Margaret S. Kelley
American StudiesProfessor Kelley is a Kansas native and attended Wichita State University. She traveled to New York for graduate work and Northern California for research. Professor Kelley returned to Kansas in 2016 to join the Department of American Studies after teaching at the Universities of Miami, Oklahoma, and Illinois.
Professor Kelley's work focuses on broad issues of gender, health, and marginalized populations. Her newest research is an investigation of women, guns, and American culture. It involves a national survey of gun ownership, attitudes, and behaviors for women, along with an ethnographic study of women and gun identity. Another of Professor Kelley's recent projects involves collecting and analyzing data on the role of "natural mentors," specifically teachers and coaches, in delinquency outcomes for adolescents. Finally, Professor Kelley is continuing to study the role of gender schemas for career choice in cross-cultural and international settings. Professor Kelley has conducted research on a number of health-related topics including illicit drug use, drug treatment, needle exchange, HIV/AIDS risk behaviors, problem alcohol use, and sports. She teaches about drugs and alcohol on a regular basis. Professor Kelley's multi-method approach to these topics draws on theories from deviance, criminology, and medical sociology with a focus on social learning and community connections. She has recently written and published articles about college drinking, gender, delinquency, and sports. Professor Kelley is a faculty affiliate in the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and holds a courtesy appointment in Sociology.
Education
Teaching
Professor Kelley teaches American Gun Culture, Being Deviant in America, On Drugs (a First Year Seminar), Drugs and Crime: The American Experience, and Research Methods.
Research
For most of my career I have specialized in drug studies, an interdisciplinary field that I approach from both criminological and medical perspectives within sociology, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods. My research has focused primarily on illicit drug users and the effectiveness of drug treatment. A key theme in my work has been examining the interaction of drug users with both formal and informal organizations, and the subcultures and networks that develop around illicit drug use. My theoretical work with subcultures has focused especially on power, autonomy, and control in the social environments of drug use. My current projects continue these themes and expand into a wide variety of issues related to the intersection of drugs and crime for youth and adults. In particular, I have moved into analyses of women, guns, and American culture.
Recently published articles have appeared in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Gender & Education, Social Science & Medicine, Deviant Behavior, and Journal of Drug Issues. Dr. Kelley is the editor of Readings on Drugs and Society: The Criminal Connection (2005, Allyn & Bacon).
Research Interests
- Gun culture
- Deviance
- Drugs and Society
- Alcohol
- Research Methods
- Sports
- Gender and Education
- Natural Mentors