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.