Christopher Chukwuedo, Ph.D.
BIO
Christopher Chukwuedo is an Assistant Professor of Criminology in DePaul University's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, joining the department in 2026. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University–Newark in 2024, his M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Louisville, and his B.A. in Criminal Justice and Philosophy from the University of Texas–San Antonio. Before joining DePaul, he served as a Teaching Instructor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, following several years as a Part-Time Lecturer and Research Assistant at Rutgers University–Newark.
Chukwuedo's research examines how children come to understand and internalize their relationship to law and legal authority long before adolescence. His dissertation, "It Makes Me Feel Like the World Hasn't Changed a Lot": Exploring Early Perspectives in Law Enforcement Among Preadolescent Youth in Newark, New Jersey (chaired by Dr. Jody Miller), introduced the Early Childhood Legal Estrangement Theory (ECLET) — an extension of Monica Bell's legal estrangement framework into early childhood.
His peer-reviewed work includes "The Academic Double Consciousness and Underrepresented Scholars Studying Crime and Justice" (Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 2023). He is a 2026 RDCJN Summer Research Institute Fellow and was a finalist for Rutgers University–Newark's Outstanding Dissertation Award (2025). He is a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Racial Democracy, Crime and Justice Network, and serves as a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Criminal Justice Education.
Research Interests
Philosophical Criminology, Qualitative Research Methods, Transformative Justice, Legal Socialization, Juvenile Justice.