Profile

Christopher J. Marier is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of South Florida in 2020. Before joining academia, Dr. Marier served for seven years as a police officer in Southwest Florida, industry experience that directly informs his research and teaching. His research focuses primarily on policing, race and justice, and group conflict. Dr. Marier's research has been published in leading journals, including Justice Quarterly, Criminology and Public Policy, and the Journal of Criminal Justice.

• B.A., Criminology, University of South Florida, 2009
• M.S., Criminology, Florida State University, 2012
• Ph.D., Criminology, University of South Florida, 2020

• Race
• Policing
• Punitiveness

My research explores how group conflict shapes justice system practices, particularly policing, punishment, and community perceptions of law enforcement. Drawing from conflict and racial threat theories, I examine how race and conflict influence attitudes among police officers, public perceptions of police legitimacy, and incarceration rates from counties to nation-states. My work identifies conditions under which racial polarization intensifies punitive outcomes, illustrating that demographic conflict significantly shapes criminal justice policy and practice. Through experimental and quantitative methods, my research also investigates divergences between legal standards governing police use of force and community expectations, providing insight into the broader legitimacy challenges facing contemporary law enforcement. Overall, my scholarship emphasizes how underlying group tensions manifest in police attitudes and behaviors, community views of police, and punitiveness.

• Race
• Justice
• Use of force
• Police legitimacy
• Incarceration