Dr. Russell K. Schutt is the chair of sociology and a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a lecturer on sociology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. He completed his BA, MA, and Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1977) and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (1979).

Most of his book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles focus on the effect of social context on satisfaction, functioning, cognition, and recidivism, the orientations of service recipients and of service and criminal justice personnel, and the organization of health and social services. He is currently a co-investigator for a randomized trial of peer support for homeless dually diagnosed veterans, funded by the Veterans Administration.