Education
- 1976 - B.A., Sociology, Boston College
- 1978 - M.A., Sociology, Boston College
- 1985 - Ph.D., Sociology, Boston University
As a criminologist my general research and teaching interests include theories of crime, models of social control, comparative criminal justice systems, violence studies and white collar crime. Recently, I have conducted research that focused on crime in the life course and public health approaches to violence. My research on alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice utilizes my many years of experience as a professional mediator and arbitrator.
Over the past five years I have worked with students on a number of research projects, including a comparative study of gun violence with a specific focus on homicide and suicide, a study of the use of mediation as an alternative to criminal prosecution and a study of near lethal violence that utilizes an instrument of analysis that combines the life course model from the field of criminology and the risk assessment model from the field of public health. In addition, I have been able to consistently involve a number of students in the planning and coordination of the New England Arson Seminar that I co-direct here on campus each summer.