Meredith Greif is an Assistant Research Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Her research is at the intersection of race, space, and housing. Her recent book, Collateral Damages: Landlords and the Urban Housing Crisis, published by Russell Sage, examines landlords who house lower-income tenants. It demonstrates how a system of laws falls short, and even has unintended negative consequences, for the populations -- notably marginalized renters and communities -- that they are meant to protect.

Her work on homelessness and housing insecurity illustrate how they result from, and perpetuate, racial and economic disparities. Her work has highlighted the ways in which housing insecurity can lead to physical and mental health problems, which subsequently heighten vulnerability to future housing insecurity. She continues to examine neighborhood satisfaction and neighborhood attachment, and how they reflect, and contribute to, racial and economic segregation.

My research focuses on homelessness, housing insecurity, homeownership, and neighborhood effects, both internationally and domestically. I currently study how landlords' business practices contribute to housing outcomes among lower-income and formerly homeless individuals, and explore models of stable, supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals. My research also addresses how neighborhood and housing outcomes vary across racial and ethnic groups, and how they perpetuate intergroup inequalities.

• 230.202 Research Methods for the Social Sciences
• 230.223 Housing and Homelessness in the United States
• 230.244 Race & Ethnicity in American Society
• 230.293 Immigration in the United States
• 230.373 Urban Sociology

Greif, M.J. 2022. Collateral Damages: Landlords and the Urban Housing Crisis. New
York: Russell Sage Foundation (American Sociological Association’s Rose Monograph
Series).

Greif, M.J. 2018. “Regulating Landlords: Unintended Consequences for Poor Tenants.” City
& Community 17: 658-674.

Garboden, P., E. Rosen, S. DeLuca, K. Edin, and M.J. Greif. 2018. “A Research Report:
Urban Landlords and the Geography of Opportunity.” Department of Housing and Urban
Development: Washington, DC.

Greif, M.J. and F. Dodoo. 2015. “How Community Physical, Structural, and Social Stressors
Relate to Mental Health in the Urban Slums of Accra, Ghana.” Health & Place 33: 57-66.

Greif, M.J. 2015. “The Intersection of Homeownership, Race, and Neighborhood Stressors:
Implications for Neighborhood Satisfaction.” Urban Studies 52: 50-70.
- Online first March 18, 2014. doi:10.1177/0042098014525243

Greif, M.J. 2012. “Housing, Medical, and Food Deprivation in Poor Urban Contexts:
Implications for Multiple Sexual Partnerships and Transactional Sex in Nairobi's Slums.”
Health & Place 18: 400-407.

Greif, M.J., A. Adamczyk, and J. Felson. 2011. “Religion and Volunteering in Four Sub-
Saharan African Countries.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 7: 11.

Adamczyk, A. and M.J. Greif. 2011. “Education and Risky Sex in Africa: Unraveling the
Link Between Women’s Education and Reproductive Health Behaviors in Kenya.” Social
Science Research 40: 654-666.

Greif, M.J. and F. Dodoo. 2011. “Internal Migration to Nairobi’s Slums: Linking Migration
Streams to Sexual Risk Behavior.” Health & Place 17: 86-93.

Greif, M.J., F. Dodoo, and A. Jayaraman. 2011. “Urban Poverty and Sexual Behavior: The
Tale of Five African Cities.” Urban Studies 48: 947-957.

Greif, M.J. 2009. “Neighborhood Attachment in the Multiethnic Metropolis.” City &
Community 8: 27-45.

Lee, B.A. and M.J. Greif. 2008. “Homelessness and Hunger.” Journal of Health and Social
Behavior 49: 3-19.

Oropesa, R.S., N. Landale, and M.J. Greif. 2008. ‘From Puerto Rican to Panethnic in New
York City.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 31: 1315-1339.

Greif, M.J. and M.C. Taylor. 2005. “Racial and Ethnic Inequality” in Sherrod, Lonnie,
Constance Flanagan, Ron Kassimir, and Amy Bertelsen, eds., Encyclopedia of Youth
Activism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

 EMPLOYMENT

 Associate Research Professor, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, 2024-

Assistant Research Professor, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, 2020-23

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, 2014-2020

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, 2008-2013

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Cleveland State University, 2006-2008

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 2006. Dissertation Title:

Neighborhood Attachment in the Multiethnic Metropolis (Barrett A. Lee, Chair).

M.A., Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 2003. Thesis Title: Racial Consciousness, Policy Preferences, and Political Participation (Marylee C. Taylor, Chair).

B.S., Rural Sociology, Cornell University, 2000 (cum laude with distinction in research).

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS

Urban Sociology (landlords and the rental market; homelessness and housing insecurity; urban poverty; homeownership; neighborhood attachment; residential mobility; spatial analysis; housing policy)

Race and Ethnicity (racial biases; racial discrimination; Fair Housing; racial and ethnic identity; immigration and assimilation)

Sociology of Law

Health and Well-being (mental health; sexual risk behavior)

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

PUBLICATIONS

Greif, M.J. 2022. Collateral Damages: Landlords and the Urban Housing Crisis. New York: Russell Sage Foundation (American Sociological Association’s Rose Monograph Series).

Greif, M.J. 2018. “Regulating Landlords: Unintended Consequences for Poor Tenants.” City & Community 17: 658-674. 

Garboden, P., E. Rosen, S. DeLuca, K. Edin, and M.J. Greif. 2018. “A Research Report: Urban Landlords and the Geography of Opportunity.” Department of Housing and Urban Development: Washington, DC.

Greif, M.J. and F. Dodoo. 2015. “How Community Physical, Structural, and Social Stressors Relate to Mental Health in the Urban Slums of Accra, Ghana.” Health & Place 33: 57-66.

Greif, M.J. 2015. “The Intersection of Homeownership, Race, and Neighborhood Stressors: Implications for Neighborhood Satisfaction.” Urban Studies 52: 50-70.
– Online first March 18, 2014. doi:10.1177/0042098014525243

Greif, M.J.  2012. “Housing, Medical, and Food Deprivation in Poor Urban Contexts: Implications for Multiple Sexual Partnerships and Transactional Sex in Nairobi’s Slums.” Health & Place 18: 400-407.

Greif, M.J., A. Adamczyk, and J. Felson. 2011. “Religion and Volunteering in Four Sub-Saharan African Countries.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 7: 11.

Adamczyk, A. and M.J. Greif. 2011. “Education and Risky Sex in Africa: Unraveling the Link Between Women’s Education and Reproductive Health Behaviors in Kenya.” Social Science Research 40: 654-666.

Greif, M.J. and F. Dodoo. 2011. “Internal Migration to Nairobi’s Slums: Linking Migration Streams to Sexual Risk Behavior.” Health & Place 17: 86-93.

Greif, M.J., F. Dodoo, and A. Jayaraman. 2011. “Urban Poverty and Sexual Behavior: The Tale of Five African Cities.” Urban Studies 48: 947-957.

Greif, M.J. 2009. “Neighborhood Attachment in the Multiethnic Metropolis.” City & Community 8: 27-45.

Lee, B.A. and M.J. Greif. 2008. “Homelessness and Hunger.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 49: 3-19.

Oropesa, R.S., N. Landale, and M.J. Greif. 2008. ‘From Puerto Rican to Panethnic in New York City.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 31: 1315-1339.

Greif, M.J. and M.C. Taylor. 2005. “Racial and Ethnic Inequality” in Sherrod, Lonnie, Constance Flanagan, Ron Kassimir, and Amy Bertelsen, eds., Encyclopedia of Youth Activism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

GRANTS

Greif, M.J. 2016. “How Landlords House the Homeless.” 21^st Century Cities Initiative Seed Grant: $21,860.

Greif, M.J. 2012. “Linking Environmental and Biological Processes.” GSU Faculty Mentored Grant: $9,957.

WORK UNDER REVIEW OR IN PROGRESS

Greif, M. J. “It is to My Advantage to Have Them Working: Obstacles to Rental Housing for Renters with Tenuous Employment.”

Greif, M.J. “We Do Not Have Classic Section 8: Landlords’ Differentiation of Government Subsidized Housing Programs.”

SELECT PRESENTATIONS

Greif, M.J. “What Kills Me Now is the Water: (Un)Fair Housing and Water: Advancing Equity at the Housing-Water Nexus.” Invited panelist, hosted by Trinity College, University of Oxford, July, 2024.

Greif, M.J. “Housing For All: Community-Based Strategies.” Invited Keynote Speech, Presented at the Downtown DC Community Convening on Homelessness. September, 2023.

Greif, M.J. “Guaranteed Headache: Administrative Burden and Landlords’ Disincentives to Participate in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.” Invited panelist at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), Washington D.C., 2022.

Greif, M.J. “Homelessness as a National and Local Crisis.” Invited Keynote Speech, Presented at the Downtown DC Community Convening on Homelessness. September, 2022.

Greif, M.J. “Author Meets Critic: Collateral Damages: Landlords and the Urban Housing Crisis.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles, 2022. 

Greif, M.J. “Who Should Apply? Landlords’ Mixed Messages and Hyper Scrutiny in the Affordable Rental Market.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), Denver, 2019.

Greif, M.J. “Housing America’s Most Vulnerable.” Invited presentation at the Johns Hopkins Symposium on Free Market Solutions to Urban Grand Challenges, April, 2019.

Greif, M.J. “Regulating Landlords.” Invited presentation at the Colloquium on Issues in Landlord/Tenant Law, NYU School of Law, March 2019.

Greif, M.J. “Regulating Landlords: Unintended Consequences for Poor Tenants.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), Washington D.C., 2018.

Greif, M.J. “The Trauma-Impacted Cycle of Poverty.” Reinventing Our Communities Conference, Baltimore, 2018.

Greif, M.J. “Regulating Landlords: Unintended Consequences for Poor Tenants.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia 2018.

Greif, M.J. and K. Edin. “Explaining Slumlord Behavior.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, 2018.

Greif, M.J. and K. Edin. “Explaining Slumlord Behavior.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Baltimore, 2018.

Greif, M.J. “Regulating Landlords: Unintended Consequences for Poor Tenants.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Baltimore, 2018.

Darrah, J. and M.J. Greif. “Perceptions, Promises and Pathways of Homeownership After the Great Recession: Investigating Disparities and Differences across Race and Ethnicity.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Montreal, 2017.

Greif, M.J. “Landlords and the Geography of Opportunity.” Presented at HUD (with S. Deluca, K. Edin, P. Garboden, and E. Rosen), Washington, DC, 2016.

Greif, M.J. Site leader, Delivering Outcomes for Communities training workshop, Partnership for Public Service. In conjunction with Project PLASE (People Lacking Ample Shelter and Employment). May 25, June 2, July 22, and Dec 1 (all 2016).

Greif, M.J. “How Investors Become Slumlords.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Seattle, 2016.

Greif, M.J. “Neighborhood Structural and Social Stressors and Mental Health: Urban Slums of Ghana.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, 2015.

Greif, M.J. “Housing Insecurity and Risky Sexual Behavior.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, 2015.

Greif, M.J. “Housing Insecurity and Its Implications for Physical and Psychological Well-being.” Presented at Emory University, May 14, 2014.

Greif, M.J., M. Gayman, E. Bulut. “Mental Health Among Latino Immigrants in the US.” Presented at the 4^th Conference on Immigration in the Southeast: Policy Analysis, Conflict Management, Atlanta, Georgia, 2012.

Greif, M.J. and A. Adamczyk. “Education and Risky Sex in Africa: Unraveling the Link Between Women’s Education and Reproductive Health Behaviors in Kenya.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, 2010.

Greif, M.J. “Internal Migration and Sexual Risk Outcomes: Linking Risky Behavior and Migrant Streams.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, California, 2009.

Lee, B. and M.J. Greif. “Homelessness and Hunger.” Presented by Barrett Lee at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal, 2006.

Greif, M.J. “Neighborhood Attachment in the Multiethnic Metropolis.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, California, 2006.

Landale, N., R.S. Oropesa, and M.J Greif. “From Puerto Rican to Panethnic in New York City.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, California. 2006.

SELECT MEDIA CONTRIBUTIONS 

“Landlord Regulation and Unintended Consequences,” UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, Housing Voice Podcast, October 5, 2022.

“Making More Than a Home in the House Next Door,” Faith & Leadership at Duke Divinity, October 4, 2022.

“Renters and Landlords Alike Need More Federal Assistance to Survive the Pandemic,” The Baltimore Sun, February 3, 2021 (with Stefanie DeLuca).

“U.S. Faces Looming Housing and Homelessness Crisis,” Hopkins HUB Q & A, Aug 5, 2020.

“Ask ASA: Millions Could be Homeless as Federal Pandemic Aid Ends, Expert Warns,” July 30, 2020.

“Ask ASA: Housing Crisis Looms with Loss of Federal Pandemic Aid,” July 30, 2020.

“Mass Evictions and the COVID-19 Crisis,” The Rick Ungar Show, July 21, 2020.

“Mass Evictions May be Maryland’s Next Public Health Crisis,” WYPR, July 17, 2020.

“The Short Fall Into Homelessness: How Society Fails Our Most Vulnerable.” WYPR, Life in the Balance, Dec 7, /2017.

“The American Dream Doesn’t Mean the Same Thing to White People and Minorities.” The Smithsonian Magazine, April 14, 2014.

“Painting the Town Red, Tangerine, and Cobalt: One Homeowner’s Joie de Vivre is Another’s Eyesore.” Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2007. 

 TEACHING

Courses taught at Johns Hopkins University

2024: Quantitative Research Practicum

2024: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2023: Research Methods

2023: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2023: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2022: Research Methods

2022: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2021: Social Policy Capstone Seminar

2021: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2021: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2020: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2020: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2019: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2019: Race and Ethnicity in American Society (Graduate)

2018: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2018: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2017: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2017: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2016: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2016: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2016: Immigration in the U.S.

2015: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2015: Race and Ethnicity in American Society                     

2015: Immigration in the U.S.

2014: Race and Ethnicity in American Society

2014: Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2014: Urban Sociology

Courses taught at Georgia State University

2013: Urban Sociology (Graduate)

2013: Social Statistics

2013: Race and Ethnic Relations (Graduate)

2012: Race and Ethnic Relations

2011: Race and Ethnic Relations (Graduate)

2011: Urban Sociology (Graduate)

2010: Social Statistics

2010: Race and Ethnic Relations (Graduate)

2009: Race and Ethnic Relations

2009: Social Statistics

2008: Introduction to Sociology

2008: Social Statistics

2008: Race, Class, and Gender

Courses taught at Cleveland State University

2007: Race and Ethnicity in American Society (Graduate)

2007: Racial and Ethnic Inequality

2007: Social Statistics

2006: Race, Class, and Gender

2006: Racial and Ethnic Inequality

Courses taught at Penn State University

2005: Racial and Ethnic Relations

2004: Introduction to Sociology

2003: Racial and Ethnic Relations

2002: Racial and Ethnic Relations

SERVICE

Department and University Service

2020: JHU Department of Sociology Diversity Action Plan Committee

2020: JHU Department of Sociology Undergraduate Committee

2018-19: JHU Department of Sociology Seminar Committee

2017: JHU Dean’s Teaching Fellowship (DTF) Committee

2015-: AKD Sociology Honors Society Chapter Representative

2014-2016: JHU Department of Sociology Undergraduate Committee

2013: GSU Department of Sociology Colloquium Committee

2012: GSU Department of Sociology Diversity Committee

2011: GSU Department of Sociology Executive Committee

2010: GSU Department of Sociology Executive Committee

2010: GSU Department of Sociology Graduate Committee

2009: GSU Community Outreach Committee

2009: GSU Department of Sociology Research Committee

2007: CSU Department of Sociology Faculty Search Committee

2006 – 2007: CSU Department of Sociology Undergraduate Committee

2004 – 2005:  PSU Department of Sociology Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Graduate rep

2001 – 2004: PSU Department of Sociology Minority Opportunity through School Transformation Committee

Service to the Profession

2018-: Editorial Board, City & Community (member)

2016: Roundtable Organizer for ASA Community and Urban Sociology Section (CUSS) meeting

2013: Co-organizer of “Ethnoracial Diversity and the Future of America’s Neighborhoods and Communities” session for ASA meeting (with Barrett Lee and Van Tran)

2006-: Manuscript reviews for American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Problems, City & Community, Health & Place, Social Science Research, Social Science & Medicine, Urban Studies, Urban Geography, Russell Sage Foundation