Dr. David Pyrooz is a criminologist who studies gangs and criminal networks, violence and crime trends, incarceration and reentry, and the evaluation of programs and policies in criminal justice. His research has been funded by local, state, federal, and private entities. He recently completed a three-wave longitudinal study of prisoner reentry in Texas and a comparative study of gang members and domestic political extremists in the United States. He currently leading three major experimental studies evaluating: (1) how a solitary confinement step-down program prepares high-risk inmates for successful reentry in Oregon, (2) a gang member and violence intervention program in Denver, and (3) Functional Family Therapy-Gangs in Colorado's 2nd and 18th Judicial Districts. His book, Competing for Control: Gangs and the Social Order of Prisons (Cambridge), received from the 2021 Outstanding Book Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
keywords
gangs and criminal networks, crime trends and the life course, incarceration and reentry, violent offending and victimization, quantitative methods
SOCY 2044 - Crime and Society
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Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Fall 2019 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2022 / Spring 2024
Explores issues related to crime, the criminal justice system, and crime-related public policy. It addresses what we know about crime and how we know it, how our society responds to crime, how the institutions designed to address crime (police, courts, corrections) function, and diversity in experiences with the criminal justice system. Same as ETHN 2044.
SOCY 4004 - Advanced Topics in Criminology
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023
Variety of courses in criminology. See current departmental announcements for specific content. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours for different topics. Recommended prerequisite: SOCY 1001 or SOCY 1004 or SOCY 2044.
SOCY 4014 - Criminology
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Examines the scientific study of types of criminal behavior and explanations for criminal behavior, with special attention to social factors affecting criminal behavior.
SOCY 5031 - Research Design
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2019
Principles and practice of quantitative sociological research, including the nature of scientific explanation, the relationship between theory and research, research design, measurement issues, sampling, questionnaire construction, and statistical analyses. A key aspect of the course will be developing a quantitative research proposal that addresses a key empirical sociological question.
SOCY 6004 - Topics in Criminology
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018 / Fall 2018
Variety of courses in criminology to be taught by visiting lecturers. See current departmental announcements for specific content. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours for different topics.
