Department of SociologyJennifer Sherman

Jennifer Sherman

  1. Professor of Sociology
Email Addressjennifer_sherman@wsu.edu
LocationWilson-Short Hall 215
Phone509-335-4163

Biography

Curriculum Vitae

Professor

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2006

Areas

Poverty/Inequality, Rural Communities, Gender, Family

Research Interests

Jennifer Sherman’s research looks at the interactions of economic conditions, cultural norms, gender, and family outcomes, particularly in rural areas. She focuses on the intersections of poverty and inequality with structural conditions and community contexts, paying particular attention to symbolic boundaries based on moral understandings and social class differences. Through qualitative methods including in-depth interviews and ethnography, she has investigated issues facing families in a Northern California timber community; rural and urban communities in New England; and agricultural and tourism-dependent communities in the rural Northwest. Her recent research focuses on rural jails and the growth of incarceration in rural Washington State. She served as President of the Rural Sociological Society from 2023-2024.

Selected Publications

Books

Articles and Book Chapters

  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2025. “‘Everybody Else Seems to Be Able to Get Help’: Rural Regulation, Access Loss, and Antigovernment Sentiment.” West Virginia Law Review 127(3): 659-677.
  • Pruitt, Lisa R., Jennifer Sherman, and Jennifer Schwartz. 2025. “Legal Deserts and Spatial Injustice: A Study of Criminal Legal Systems in Rural Washington”. Yale Law Journal Forum 134.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2024. “‘A Problem with the Person’: Class Blindness and the Reproduction of Social Class Inequality”. Qualitative Sociology 47(4): 633-665.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2024. “Presidential Address: Reconceptualizing Rurality and Nurturing Rural Sociological Souls”. Rural Sociology 89(3): 361-374.
  • Sherman, Jennifer and Jennifer Schwartz. 2024. “The Fine Line: Rural Justice, Public Health and Safety, and the Coronavirus Pandemic.” American Behavioral Scientist 68(9): 1216–1237.
  • Randles, Jennifer and Jennifer Sherman. 2023. “Diaper Despair and Deflecting Inequalities.” Contexts 22(1): 12-17. 
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2023. “‘Please Don’t Take This’: Rural Gentrification, Symbolic Capital, and Housing Insecurity.” Social Problems 70(2): 491–510 (First published online 2021).
  • Sherman, Jennifer and Kai Schafft. 2022. “‘Turning Their Back on Kids’: Inclusions, Exclusions, and the Contradictions of Schooling in Gentrifying Rural Communities.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 8(3): 150-170.
  • Cervantes, Marisa and Jennifer Sherman. 2019. “Falling for the Ones Were Abusive: Cycles of Violence in Low-Income Women’s Intimate Relationships.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Online First: 1-29.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2018. “‘Not Allowed to Inherit my Kingdom’: Amenity Development and Social Inequality in the Rural West.” Rural Sociology. 83(1): 174-207.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2017. “‘Stress I don’t Need’: Gender Expectations and Relationship Struggles amongst the Poor.” Journal of Marriage and Family 79(3): 657-674
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2013.“Surviving the Great Recession: Growing Need and the Stigmatized Safety Net.” Social Problems 60(40): 409-432.
  • Sherman, Jennifer and Elizabeth Harris. 2012.“Social Class and Parenting: Classic Debates and New Understandings.” Sociology Compass 6(1): 60-71.
  • Sherman, Jennifer and Rayna Sage. 2011. “‘Sending Off All Your Good Treasures’: Rural Schools, Brain-Drain, and Community Survival in the Wake of Economic Collapse.” Journal of Research in Rural Education 26(11): 1-14.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2009. “Bend to Avoid Breaking: Job Loss, Gender Norms, and Family Stability in Rural America.” Social Problems 56(4): 599-620.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2006. “Coping with Rural Poverty: Economic Survival and Moral Capital in Rural America.” Social Forces, 85(2): 891-913.