College
Department
Phone
Location
- Juvenile Justice
- Gangs and Gang Violence
- Neighborhood Effects on Crime
- Gender, Substance Abuse and Crime
- Qualitative Research methods
Huan Gao is a Professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, Stanislaus. She received her Ph.D. in criminal justice from Rutgers University, School of Criminal Justice in 2008. She joined the C.J. faculty at California State University, Stanislaus, in 2007. She received the distinguished Wang Family Faculty Award (2011-2012) from California State University Chancellor’s Office. She served as an Academic Visitor at the Center for Criminology, University of Oxford, during Trinity Term in 2022.
Her previous research examined the intersections of female substance abuse, criminality, and gender-specific drug treatment within the context of global drug control policies. In the past ten years, her primary research area has focused on youth involvement in street gangs, gang-related violence, and youth gang prevention and intervention. Her research expertise lies in the socialization of rural youth gang involvement, with a focus on community impacts. Specifically, she examines how concentrated poverty, rapid urbanization, and increased migration (both domestic and international) shape this phenomenon.
Gao, H. (2025). Youth Involvement in Street Gangs in California’s Central Valley. Routledge.
Gao, H., and Liu, JH. (2016). Women’s Substance Abuse and its Impacts on Children’s Early Development and Deviant Behaviors. In Kury H., Redo, S and Shea E (eds.) Women and Children as Victims and Offenders: Background-Prevention-Reintegration, Suggestions for Succeeding Generations. Springer International: Switzerland.
Gao, H. (Editor-in-Chief), Liu, JH, Lin, JY., Huang, KC., & Zheng, SL. (eds.) (2015). Drug Control in China and in the World: Reviews of Drug Laws in Selected Countries (Multivolume Book Series VI). Beijing: People’s Publishing House.
Gao, H & Liu, JH (2015). Drug Control Laws and Policies in Europe. In Liu, JH., Gao, H., Lin, JY., Huang KC., & Zheng, SL. (eds.) Drug Control in China and in the World: Reviews of Drug Laws in Selected Countries (Multivolume Book Series VI). Beijing: People’s Publishing House.
Dai, M. Y. & Gao, H. (2014). Drug User’s Satisfaction with Drug Control by the Police in China. Asian Journal of Criminology. DOI10.1007/s11417-014-9187-5
Gao, H. (2013). Drug Misuse and Drug Trafficking in Asia. In Jianhong Liu, Susyan Jou and Bill Heberton (eds) Handbook of Asian Criminology. Springer, New York.
Gao, H. (2011). Women and Heroin Addiction in China’s Changing Society. Advances in Criminology Book Series. New York: Routledge.