The International Society for Research on Aggression selected Kwan as one of its Lagerspetz Award winners for his conference presentation on “Diagnosing the Spatial Correlates of Hate Crime.”

Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences has awarded Kwan and his coauthors its Lupia-Mutz Outstanding Publication Award for their article, “The Psychology of Justice Buildings.”

The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality has selected Kwan as a Co-Chair of its Race/Ethnicity & Sexuality Special Interest Group. Kwan is currently in his second year of a two-year term as a member of the SSSS Board of Directors and is completing ongoing research on the dating and intimate relationships for those who are criminally stigmatized.

The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus selected Kwan as a 2021 recipient of Graduate/Postdoctoral Fellowship as well as a Stipend for Lecture to conduct scholarly work in Baku, Azerbaijan.

in Biological Conservation

Traditional conservation scientists approach biodiversity from a resource-management perspective, in which both wildlife and non-living natural resources are managed to balance the interests of competing human stakeholders. Here, I argue for viewing biological conservation as part of a larger competition of the powerful and their interests against humans and wildlife alike. Drawing on social dominance theory to apply lessons on intergroup conflict to ecological networks, I propose that those political power structures that marginalize human populations, denying voice and inclusion, also perform poorly regarding wildlife species. Accounting for nonhuman species as a collection of agentic beings seeking to satisfy their own survival interests and that of their respective “social” group, I argue for connecting the literatures on social justice and ecological justice through common challenges rooted in the social psychology of power.

in Criminal Justice and Behavior

Narrative identity theorists have long held that individuals construct identities as a coherent tale of their past, present, and future selves. These life stories are structured along predictable scripts borrowed from cultural master narratives. Heretofore, legitimacy theorists have relied on social identity theory to explain legitimation processes. I propose integrating elements of narrative identity theory with social identity for a more complete legitimation theory. I analyze 92 in-depth interviews with individuals who encountered the police departments of Newark, New Jersey, and Cleveland, Ohio. Respondents’ narratives followed common narrative scripts, suggesting a shared master narrative guiding interpretations of police encounters. A significant proportion of the sample interpreted their views of the police from a group-based lens, while an equally significant proportion used alternative narratives. An integration of social identity, narrative identity, and current legitimacy theory holds promise for a more comprehensive model of legitimation and a more complete theory of self.