(Sociology & Social Policy, June 2005)
Thesis Title: Why Neighborhoods Matter: Structural and Cultural Influences on Adolescents in Poor Communities
Committee: Christopher Jencks (chair), Katherine Newman, Christopher Winship, Robert J. Sampson
Initial Placement: Post-doctoral position 2005-06; Assistant Professor of Sociology and Assistant Research Scientist, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
Current Position: Professor of Sociology, University of California Berkeley

David Harding studies poverty and inequality, urban neighborhoods, education, incarceration, and prisoner reentry. He uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. His current projects include the social and economic reintegration of former prisoners, neighborhoods and prisoner reentry, the effects of incarceration on crime, employment, and health, causal inference for contextual effects research, for-profit colleges, educational attainment, and labor market outcomes, and the role of neighborhood context in adolescent romantic relationships and sexual behavior