On these streets: A cross-provincial examination of homelessness and victimization in the time of toxic drug crises | Katharina Maier

Join us for the fourth seminar of the 2024-25 CrimSL Speaker Series on Wednesday, January 22, 2025!

Dr. Katharina Maier, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg and Visiting Professor at CrimSL, will present "On these streets: A cross-provincial examination of homelessness and victimization in the time of toxic drug crises." 

This is a free event, however, registration is required.

Prior to the seminar, join us for a light lunch from noon to 12:30 pm in the Centre Lounge. Please indicate your lunch RSVP for catering purposes when you register.

Abstract

Social service agencies and other ‘helping’ institutions (e.g., shelters, soup kitchens, harm reduction services) are often spatially concentrated in inner-city neighbourhoods, creating what DeGiorgi (2017) refers to as “service ghettos” for the urban poor. Ideally, such neighbourhoods are places for the unhoused and marginalized to safely and conveniently access services. In this talk, Dr. Maier will discuss how unhoused and street-involved People Who Use Drugs move about and relate to such neighbourhoods and other urban spaces. She will discuss how the potential for victimization, concerns about drugs, need for survival, and encounters with police/security shape how marginalized people relate to different spaces, while reflecting on the implications of her findings for the provision of critical services for the urban poor.

About Professor Katharina Maier

Dr. Katharina Maier is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg. She is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies from July 2024 to June 2025 through CrimSL's Visiting Scholar Program. As a qualitative researcher, Dr. Maier examines issues surrounding drugs, homelessness, and poverty; the structural determinants of health; punishment (including people's experiences of parole and probation supervision); and the work of criminal justice and public health actors. She is currently co-leading several projects, including a multi-year, multi-site, comparative study on homelessness during times of drug crises. Dr. Maier's collaborative research has been supported by SSHRC, CIHR, Canadian Bar Association, and other funding sources. She has published in various international and Canadian journals, including British Journal of Criminology, Social Problems, Theoretical Criminology, Punishment & Society, Deviant Behavior, and Law & Social Inquiry. She is also committed to mobilizing knowledge to diverse audiences, having presented her research to the Canadian Chiefs of Paramedics, community organizations, and other stakeholders.  

Accessibility

Please note that our Centre Lounge and CG 265 seminar room are on the second floor of the Canadiana Gallery building, with stair access only as there is no elevator. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your participation in this session, please email crimsl.communications@utoronto.ca and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

Notice of photography and videography

Photography, audio and video recording may occur throughout this event. Therefore, by attending, you hereby authorize the University of Toronto to take your photograph, video and/or record your voice and grant the university all rights to these sounds, still or moving images in any medium for educational, promotional, marketing, advertising or other such purposes that support the mission of the university. If you do not consent to this, please speak with a university representative upon your arrival.

Health & Safety

We are following health and safety measures outlined by the University of Toronto and the Government of Ontario. Should there be changes in protocols related to health and safety of our guests and community, registrants will be advised.