Abigail Kolb

Associate Professor
Department of Civic Engagement and Public Service University College

678-839-6326
akolb@westga.edu

Pafford Social Science Building - Room 238

Download curriculum vitae for Abigail Kolb in MS Word
Abigail Kolb
  • B.S., Bachelor of Social Work, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2005
  • M.S., Master of Science - Clinical Social Work, Columbia University, 2006
  • PhD, Doctor of Philosophy - Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 2015

Summer 2022 Sections

Spring 2022 Sections

Fall 2021 Sections

Summer 2021 Sections

Spring 2021 Sections

Fall 2020 Sections

Summer 2020 Sections

  • CRIM-2245 (Juvenile Delinquency) Section: E01
  • CRIM-4279 (Race and Crime) Section: E01

Spring 2020 Sections

  • CRIM-1100 (Intro to Criminal Justice) Section: E02
  • CRIM-2245 (Juvenile Delinquency) Section: 01
  • CRIM-4279 (Race and Crime) Section: 01

Fall 2019 Sections

  • CRIM-2245 (Juvenile Delinquency) Section: E01
  • CRIM-4279 (Race and Crime) Section: 01
  • CRIM-4280 (Sex Offenders) Section: E02

Christopher, Kelley; Kolb, Abigail; and Parsons, Tiffany A. (2022) "“’My walk matches my talk’: An exploratory study of a moral rehabilitation program for incarcerated women.”," The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology: Vol. 14 : Iss. 1 , A [View Publication External Resource]

Kolb, A. (2021). “Just Listen, People!”: Narrative as Resistance in Criminological Research. In J.A. Schlosser (Ed.) Prison Stories: Women Scholars’ Experiences Doing Research Behind Bars (pp. 67-84). Lanham, MD: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing G

Kolb, A. & Palys, T. (2012). Are you Down?: Power relations and gender reconstruction among Latina gang members in Los Angeles. Journal of Gang Research, 20(1): 19-32.

Kolb, A. & Palys, T. (2016). Homegirls, Hoodrats and Hos: Co-constructing gang status through discourseand performance. International Journal for Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy, 5(4): 29-44. doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v5i4.334. [View Publication External Resource]

Kolb, A. & Palys, T. (2018). Playing the part: Pseudo-families, wives, and the politics of relationships in women’s prisons in California. The Prison Journal, 98(6), 678-699. doi: 10.1177/0328855. [View Publication (PDF)]

Kolb, A., Palys, T., & Green, A. (2019). “When You’re Out, You’re Not Really Out”: Exiting Strategies among Gang-Affiliated Chicanas. The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology, 11(2), Article 4. [View Publication External Resource]

Race, class, and gender inequality in the criminal justice system

My research is multidisciplinary, and focuses on the intersection of race, class, and gender inequalities within the criminal justice system. Specifically, I focus on the unique issues that women of color face in corrections, their corporeal experiences within the carceral system, and their individual and collective mechanisms of agency. In addition, I am currently conducting research on clinical treatment with sexual offenders. Over the past year, Ms. Kelly Christopher (Criminology), Dr. Tiffany Parsons (Sociology), and I have been working on developing a four year degree program for incarcerated individuals. The Department of Education recently granted UWG access to Second Chance Pell Grants to become the first university in Georgia to offer a four-year college degree program for incarcerated women!