I am an incoming assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, jointly appointed in Sociology and the School of Data Science and Society.

I research gun ownership and how the criminal justice system interacts with inequality. I use preregistered experiments (forced-choice conjoint and vignette), machine learning, longitudinal designs (smartphone-delivered surveys), semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and topic modeling. I teach methods and how to critically analyze crime policy (syllabus).

My active projects include:

1. Reconsidering causal theories of neoliberalism - SSSP conference paper here

   2023 Society for the Study of Social Problems Theory Division Student Paper Award

   2024 Western Society of Criminology Miki Vohryzek-Bolden Student Paper Competition

2. Evaluating the Shadow Costs of treatment programs
3. Investigating how socioeconomic hardship affects desire for guns
4. Assessing how gun ownership affects neighborhood socialization

Recent publications

• Sola, Justin L. and Justin T. Pickett. 2024. “Widespread, bipartisan aversion exists to neighbors owning AR-15s or storing guns insecurely.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (16) e2311825121.

• Sola, Justin L. and Charis E. Kubrin. 2023. “Making the Call: How Does Perceived Race Affect Desire to Call the Police?” Experimental Criminology (Online First). Received the 2023 American Society of Criminology Experimental Division Student Paper Award

• Sykes, B., …. & Sola, J. 2022. “Barred: Labor Market Dynamics and Human Capital Development Among People on Probation and Parole.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (Volume 701 Issue 1: 28-45).

• Sykes, B., …. & Sola, J. 2022. “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Public Assistance, Monetary Sanctions, and Financial Double-Dealing in America.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences (Volume 8 Issue 1: 148-178).

• Sola, Justin L. 2021. “Transmitting Desire: An Experiment on a Novel Measure of Gun Desirability in a Pandemic.” Sociological Perspectives (Volume 65 Issue 5: 939-969).