Administration of Justice/ Criminology Certificate
B.S.
Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
2002
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Faculty
Faculty
Bahiyyah M. Muhammad, Ph.D. (She, Her, Hers)
Associate Professor
Department/Office
- Sociology & Criminology
School/College
- College of Arts & Sciences
Additional Positions
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Interdisciplinary Studies
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Co-PISocial Justice Consortium
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Honors Faculty FellowCOAS Honors Program
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CETLA FellowCenter For Excellence In Teaching
Biography
Bahiyyah M. Muhammad received her B.S. in Administration of Justice from Rutgers University- New Brunswick Campus with a minor in Psychology and a Criminology Certificate. As an undergraduate, she became a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and a Minority Academic Career Program (MAC)- Undergraduate Research Fellow. She also spent a semester as a research intern at the University of Natal, located in Pietermaritzberg, South Africa where she interviewed natives on their attitudes toward the criminal justice system. Dr. Muhammad went on to receive her M.S. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice- New York City. As a graduate, she presented research findings at numerous professional conferences such as those held by the Academy of Criminal Justice Science (ACJS), American Society of Criminology (ASC), Sisters of the Academy (SOA), and the American Correction Association (ACA).
Dr. Muhammad received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice, where she specialized in families and communities affected by mass incarceration. Her particular area of expertise rests in the lived experiences of children of incarcerated parents. Dr. Muhammad has spent the last decade of her criminal justice career conducting ethnographic work about children ages 7 – 18, living in urban communities throughout New Jersey, who have experienced the loss of one or both of their parents to the prison system. She is currently founding a non-profit organization to address the dynamic concerns faced by children of the incarcerated.
Dr. Muhammad has taught numerous undergraduate courses at the Rutgers University, West Chester University, and The New School in New York City. She has also taught classes in numerous prisons, including at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women (EMCF) in Clinton, NJ, and Northern State Prison, Newark, NJ. Dr. Muhammad also served as director of the College Bound Consortium, a prisoner education program facilitated at EMCF through a partnership between Drew University and Raritan Valley Community College.
Education & Expertise
Education
Family Law/ Psychology
Study Abroad- Non Degree
University of Natal, Pietermaritzberg (South Africa)
2001
Corrections Administration
M.A.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice (New York)
2004
Criminal Justice
Ph.D.
Rutgers University (Newark)
2011
Postdoctoral Fellow
Work, Poverty and Criminal Justice
The New School of Liberal Arts (New York)
2013
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
Fellowship & Scholarships
Inaugural CETLA Fellow, Howard University Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Assessment, 2024
Inaugural Honors Faculty Fellow, Howard University College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, 2023-2024
Lumen Circles Fellow, Online Teaching Foundation, CETLA, 2021
D.C. Department of Corrections (DCDOC), Research and Policy Fellow, 2019
United States Department of State, Franklin Fellow-Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Office, 2017-2018
HU ADVANCE-IT Follow-the-Leader Fellowship Project: Publish Never Perish, 2016
HU ADVANCE-IT Writing Retreat Fellow, 2015
Advanced Summer Faculty Research Fellowship, 2015
HU Teach 2 Teaching with Technology Fellowship, 2015
Summer Faculty Research Fellowship, 2014
Research
Trailblazer Civic Award- Outstanding Social Justice Research, Women Ambassadors Foundation, 2023
Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, Research Fellow, 2020-2023
Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Fellow, International Research & Exchange Board (IREX), 2020-2021
Assessment Fellow, Howard University Institutional Research and Assessment, Office of the Provost, 2019
Trailblazer Award for Groundbreaking Achievement in Research and Scholarship, Black Muslim Psychology Conference, Muslim Wellness Foundation (Philadelphia, PA), 2018
Summer Fellow, Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Retreat, 2018
Summer Fellow, Howard University Interdisciplinary Research Retreat, 2016
Most Outstanding Presentation by Junior Faculty Researcher, Howard University, Research Day, 2014
Excellent Paper Presentation, Howard University, Leslie H. Hicks Research Symposium, 2014
Teaching
Outstanding Teacher Award (Associate Professor), College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University, 2021-2022
Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, Bison Ball, 2019
Summer Teaching Fellow, HU Teach VI, CETLA 2018
Female Faculty Member of the Year, Nomination, HBCU Digest, 2018
Global Teacher Prize, Nomination, 2017
U.S. Marines Campus Hero-Fox 5 News, 2017
Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, 2017
Teaching with Technology Conference Presenter Certificate, CETLA, 2016
Teaching with Technology Award, Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Assessment, 2016
Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, 2015
Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, 2014
Service
Partner Impact Award, The DC Department of Corrections, 2024
Robert L. Perry Mentoring Award, Association for Ethnic Studies, 2023
Appreciation Award, The Metropolitan Police Department, Cadet Corp Branch, HSCC, 2023
Featured Honoree, Voices for A Second Chance-50th Anniversary Gala (Washington, DC), 2019
George Strawn Volunteer Award, District of Columbia-Department of Corrections (DCDOC), 2018
“Liberating the Free” Visionary Award, Not Without My Hijab National Committee, 2018
Community Role Model Award, MOM Network (Arlington, VA), 2018
Community Service Award, SMILE Inc., 2016
Volunteer of the Year, Bureau of Prisons- Alderson Federal Prison Camps, 2016
Human Rights Award, New Jersey Education Association, Advocacy Award, 2015
Certificates
Certificate of Appreciation, DC Correctional Detention Facility (DC Jail), 2024
Certificate of Completion, Women in Leadership, Harvard Division of Continuing Education, 2023
Certificate of Completion, Teens and Police Service (TAPS) Academy, 2023
Certificate of Appreciation, Metropolitan Police Department- The Cadet Corp Branch, 2023
Certificate of Appreciation, DC Department of Corrections, 2018
Certificate of Appreciation, DC Jail- Young Men Emerging Unit, 2018
Certificate of Recognition, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh-City of Baltimore for Baltimore City Youth and Girls Expecting More Success, Inc., 2017
Featured News
Published Articles and Presentations
Published Articles and Presentations
Breaking Generational Curses: Success and Opportunity among Black Children of Incarcerated Parents
https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article/72/1/74/7205696
Black children are disproportionately represented among the children of incarcerated mothers and fathers in the United States. Research has largely focused on negative life outcomes (e.g., incarceration, negative behaviors, school dropout rates) of these children. Findings center on the ways adult Black children of incarcerated parents define success, which differs from middle-class, Eurocentric definitions of economic success, college graduation, marriage, and children as the success indicators. Success in relationships, community, education, and mental health emerged as the themes that define success.
“We Have Unique Experiences”: Familial Socialization of Children of Incarcerated Parents
As millions of parents are held behind bars, there is a growing concern not only for the outcome for these individuals, but for their children. Researchers have pointed to familial socialization as a way for children to navigate their perceived social identities and combat negative outcomes. Thus, this study explored how family members mitigate adverse life outcomes for 82 adult children of incarcerated parents in a similar function as other social identifications. The findings illustrate four interconnected agents of parental incarceration socialization: “the talk,” familial beliefs, relationship with the incarcerated parent, and expression and navigation. Similar to other social identities, a socialization process occurs for children of incarcerated parents, which informs how they should navigate society.
Why Race Matters for Higher Education in Prison
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0161956X.2021.1991704
This essay will address issues of racial inequity and injustice within higher education in prison programs—examining issues of faculty diversity, pedagogy, and barriers students impacted by the criminal legal system face in continuing their higher education upon release. In addressing these barriers, there is an opportunity to overcome racial inequity at a massive scale and set an example, both for higher education communities and society as a whole.
The Confluence of Language and Learning Disorders and the School-to-Prison Pipeline among Minority Students of Color: A Critical Race Theory
Although African Americans make up a mere 13% of the U.S population, they comprise over 40% of young adult inmates in jails and prisons. To date, one in twenty-three white males are sentenced to jail in their lifetime as compared to one in four black males.' These numbers are likely to be most prevalent amongst minority male students from low socio-economic backgrounds, whose school districts have less resources. To this extent, disproportionate mass incarceration continues to produce long-term
detrimental effects such as: 1) reinforcement of violent behavior and attitudes; 2) limited education; 3) exacerbated mental health issues and learning disabilities; and 4) increased future involvement in the criminal justice system.