The Criminology Academy

In this podcast, Nathaniel Schutten discusses his research on gun ownership in the US, exploring the intersection of gun ownership and racism. They also delve into the evolving trends of gun ownership, the cultural significance of guns in America, and the impact of racial attitudes on political candidate preferences.

Prepare for an enlightening journey through episode 93 of the Criminology Academy podcast. Explore the dark side of the internet with cybercrime expert Dr. Eden Kamar, who delves into the disturbing trend of child online grooming. Through a detailed discussion about her groundbreaking research and studies, we also explore the role of parental guardianship in mitigating online grooming, the techniques employed by predators, and protective measures for children. Unveil the innovative use of chatbots and artificial intelligence for data collection and analysis of online sexual grooming techniques, highlighting the potential in safeguarding children and prosecuting offenders. Learn about the alarming findings, including the observed trend of more sexually knowledgeable children being specifically targeted for offline contact. Reflect on the importance of understanding the grooming process's non-linear nature, which can often be abrupt and direct. Dig deeper as the conversation explores the issue of webcam exploitation, particularly by online groomers. Recognize the deception within certain platforms that enable groomers to manipulate the victims' cameras without their awareness primarily through 'Whereby' as suggested by Dr. Kamar's study. Raise pressing questions on the safety design of such platforms and the role of software companies in securing user safety. Tune into this insightful conversation and empower yourself with knowledge against these cyber threats.

Explore evidence-based policing, evolution of policing strategies, challenges in evaluating gang reduction programs, navigating complexities of conducting policing studies, importance of qualitative research, and bridging academia and policing lessons in crime reduction with Professor Jerry Ratcliffe in a captivating discussion.

Stephanie Bonnes is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Assistant Dean of the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven. Her scholarship broadly focuses on victimization at the intersections of gender, inequality, identity, and organizations. We speak to Stephanie about harassment and sexual assault within the military.  Episode Note: Around minute 14, Stephanie wanted to clarify she meant that individual victims are helped, however,  no one is helping much to change the culture. Something she expands on throughout the episode.  Get Stephanie's book "Hardship Duty" with 30% off (use the code) here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hardship-duty-9780197636244 Code: ASFLYQ6 for 30% off

David Weisburd is Distinguished Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University and the Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His current research interests are focused on the criminology of place, policing, and research methods. He has received several awards such as the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, the American Society of Criminology’s Sutherland Award, the (ASC) August Vollmer Award, and the Israel Prize, among many others. We discuss the origins of the criminology of place and some of David's work on crime concentrating in certain micro geographic locations. 

Richard Rosenfeld is the Curators' Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is a Fellow and Past President of the American Society of Criminology. We talk to Rick about his beginning as a criminologist. Then we discuss some of Rick's contributions to the field surrounding his work on crime forecasting. Finally, Rick gives us his thoughts on the field. 

Robert Agnew is Professor of Sociology, Emeritus at Emory University. We talk to Robert about his beginnings in sociology and criminology. We also get into Robert's General Strain Theory and it's development over time. Finally, Robert gives us his thoughts on the field of criminology and where he hopes it will go in the future. 

Alix Winter is the Chief Data Scientist for the Racial Profiling and Biased-Based Policing Investigations Unit at New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board. She is also an Affiliated Research Scholar at Columbia University's Incite. We discuss how court actors justify bail decisions and the outcomes of these decisions. 

For this episode we don't have a guest. We just spend time talking about the timeline of the academic job market, some initial interviews dos and don'ts, and then we get into our experiences doing campus visit interviews. They are exhausting but critical to landing a job. 

This week we spoke with Jennifer O'Neill who is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University. We talk about symbolic interactionism, role identities, and delinquency.