Dr. Valerio Baćak

Associate Professor at Rutgers University

About

Valerio Baćak joined the faculty in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in 2015. His primary research interest is in understanding how legal systems of punishment and control shape social inequality, especially inequalities in health, and centers the experiences and human rights of marginalized populations. In addition to academic work, Valerio has consulted internationally on public health projects for various United Nations organizations. As a research and teaching fellow at the University of Zagreb, he studied youth sexuality and the social epidemiology of HIV. Originally from Croatia, Valerio received a PhD in Sociology and an MA in Statistics from the University of Pennsylvania, an MSc in Sociology from the University of Oxford, and a BA in Sociology from the Unive...

Dr. Valerio Baćak

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Dulce Rubio, M., Kennedy, E. H., Baćak, V., & Nagin, D. S. (2025). Effects of adolescent victimization on offending: Flexible methods for missing data and unmeasured confounding. Annals of Applied Statistics, 19(2), 889-906.

Baćak, V., Lageson, S. E., & Powell, K. (2024). The stress of injustice: Public defenders and the frontline of American inequality. Social Forces, soae027.

Baćak, V. & Apel, R. (2021). Police fairness and legitimacy across the post-communist divide in Europe. Law & Society Review, 55(3), 473-495.

Baćak, V. & Apel, R. (2020). The thin blue line of health: Police contact and wellbeing in Europe. Social Science & Medicine, 267, 112404.

Baćak, V., & Kennedy, E. H. (2019). Principled machine learning using the super learner: An application to predicting prison violence. Sociological Methods & Research, 48, 698-721.

Baćak, V., Andersen, L. H., & Schnittker, J. (2019). The effect of timing of incarceration on mental health: Evidence from a natural experiment. Social Forces, 98, 303-328.

Baćak, V., Thurman, K., Eyer, K., Qureshi, R., Bird, J. D., Rivera, L. M., & Kim, S. A. (2018). Incarceration as a health determinant for sexual orientation and gender minority persons. American Journal of Public Health, 108, 994-999.

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Contact Information

Websites

Experience

Expertise

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Dulce Rubio, M., Kennedy, E. H., Baćak, V., & Nagin, D. S. (2025). Effects of adolescent victimization on offending: Flexible methods for missing data and unmeasured confounding. Annals of Applied Statistics, 19(2), 889-906.

Baćak, V., Lageson, S. E., & Powell, K. (2024). The stress of injustice: Public defenders and the frontline of American inequality. Social Forces, soae027.

Baćak, V. & Apel, R. (2021). Police fairness and legitimacy across the post-communist divide in Europe. Law & Society Review, 55(3), 473-495.

Baćak, V. & Apel, R. (2020). The thin blue line of health: Police contact and wellbeing in Europe. Social Science & Medicine, 267, 112404.

Baćak, V., & Kennedy, E. H. (2019). Principled machine learning using the super learner: An application to predicting prison violence. Sociological Methods & Research, 48, 698-721.

Baćak, V., Andersen, L. H., & Schnittker, J. (2019). The effect of timing of incarceration on mental health: Evidence from a natural experiment. Social Forces, 98, 303-328.

Baćak, V., Thurman, K., Eyer, K., Qureshi, R., Bird, J. D., Rivera, L. M., & Kim, S. A. (2018). Incarceration as a health determinant for sexual orientation and gender minority persons. American Journal of Public Health, 108, 994-999.

Experience

Dr. Valerio Baćak

Expertise