04/08/2026
The SSSP Law and Society Division is excited to share a new publication from Nicolas Gutierrez III.
In their article in Punishment and Society, "“They really target people for helping other people”: The criminalization of mutual aid during encampment sweeps in Los Angeles, CA," Nicolas Gutierrez and Megan Welsh Carroll argue that homelessness is increasingly managed through punishment, policing, and encampment sweeps, while even the people trying to help unhoused residents face arrest, citations, and other forms of repression. Based on in-depth interviews with mutual aid workers and encampment residents, Gutierrez and Welsh Carroll show how helpers navigate those risks while calling for the dismantling of a system that criminalizes both homelessness and solidarity.
Gutierrez III, Nicolas, and Megan Welsh Carroll. 2026. “‘They Really Target People for Helping Other People’: The Criminalization of Mutual Aid during Encampment Sweeps in Los Angeles, CA.” Punishment & Society. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14624745261428582.
