Research Interests: Social policy; social inequality; victimization; immigration and criminal legal systems; human services provision; qualitative & mixed methods

Lilly Yu is a PhD Candidate in Sociology & Social Policy. Her research broadly focuses on social policy, the immigration and criminal legal systems, and access to justice for low-income and vulnerable people. She is currently studying the delivery of legal services for immigrants and how legal actors make decisions at the intersection of immigration policy and crime victimization during times of rapid policy change.

Prior to beginning her PhD, Lilly was a researcher in the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center for four years where she worked on a wide portfolio of studies in partnership with government agencies, practitioners, and community-based organizations. Her research focused on crime victimization and victim services and the justice involvement of young people in a variety of settings and interventions. She extensively studied human trafficking, including its investigation and prosecution, service delivery for human trafficking survivors, the criminalization of trafficking survivors, and trafficking survivors’ perceptions of justice.

Previous Degrees:
BA, Sociology, with a minor in the program in Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities, Rice University