Dr. Alarid's primary research areas are criminal behavior and gender; post conviction offender behavior; and corrections policy, practice, and discretion.

Regarding women and crime, Dr. Alarid is interested in women as victims and offenders. She is studying why women commit crime and how women's criminal behavior is influenced by personal characteristics, societal expectations, and intersects with previous victimization.

Within this research area, Dr. Alarid is examining elements of prison life through a gender lens, including the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity with the role of group behavior and the sub rosa economic system in prison.

Dr. Alarid's second area of research measures post conviction offender behavior following various correctional interventions, such as measuring recidivism of juvenile and adult probationers who have completed various community correctional programs.

Finally, Dr. Alarid is interested in individuals who have mental illness who are served by both the mental health system and the criminal justice system.