Sarah Brayne

Sarah Brayne is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Stanford University. In her research, she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to understand whether and how data-intensive surveillance shapes individual trajectories and population-level disparities. Her first book, Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing (Oxford University Press), draws on ethnographic research within the Los Angeles Police Department to understand the social implications of law enforcement’s use of predictive analytics and new surveillance technologies. In earlier work, Brayne developed a theory of “system avoidance,” using survey data to test the relationship between criminal legal contact and involvement in medical, financial, labor market, and educational institutions.

Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford, Professor Brayne taught at the University of Texas at Austin, where she co-founded the Texas Prison Education Initiative. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of British Columbia, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton University, and completed a postdoc at Microsoft Research.