Tasseli McKay’s research focuses on gendered repercussions of US state violence and on reparative scholarly methods and policy responses.

Works in Progress

• A secondary qualitative study applying foundational sociological theories of penality and of domesticity to understand alterations in gendered labor and gendered violence in families separated by imprisonment

• A critical evidence review applying the theory of stratification economics to consider benefits accrued to non-Black Americans through racially targeted mass incarceration (with William “Sandy” Darity, Jr.)

• A methods study using intensive case studies of disagreement and discordance in two datasets that include qualitative, survey, and administrative data collected with families during and after a family member’s imprisonment (with Sara Wakefield)

• An analysis of the ways that constructions of time and temporality are deployed against Black reparations proposals and against the broader movement for transitional justice in the US

Funded Research

Institutional Contact and Family Violence in an Era of Mass Incarceration (2023-2028) - Principal Investigator. Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, this award supports research on the ways that contact with punitive institutions shapes family violence experiences, disclosure, and help-seeking.

Caregiving and Workplace Equity During and After the COVID19 Pandemic (2023) - Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, this study examines the experiences of caregivers with intersecting marginal identities (particularly women of color) in managing career and caregiving responsibilities and implications for strategies to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace.

Mass Incarceration and Violence in Families (2020 to 2022)—Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this fellowship supported postdoctoral research on the implications of mass incarceration for violence in families.

Post-Incarceration Partner Violence (2017 to 2020)—Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this study produced a qualitative and quantitative understanding of intimate partner violence among couples in contact with the criminal legal system and recommendations for policy.

Addressing the Impact of Sexual Harassment in Academia (2017 to 2018)—Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, this project examined strategies to reduce sexual harassment and its impact on women (particularly women of color, LGBTQ+ women, and women with disabilities) in science, engineering, and medicine.

Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (2018 to 2020)—Co-Lead. Funded by the National Academies , this project identified strategies for promoting strong representation and retention of diverse women in STEM.

Suicidality Among LGBTQ+ Adolescents (2017 to 2018)—Co-Lead. Funded by RTI, this study tested a cutting-edge, probabilistic sampling method for representative research on suicide among LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ youth using social media.

Violence and LGBTQ+ Communities (2016 to 2017)—Lead. Funded by RTI , this study was the first to synthesize evidence on violence perpetration, victimization, consequences, and reporting as well as issues of fear and safety in LGBTQ+ communities.

Federal and Tribal Responses to Violence Against Women (2009 to 2012)—Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this project aimed to understand responses to gender-based violence on tribal lands.