David McDowall (criminologist)

Last updated
David McDowall
Born1949 (age 74–75)
Alma mater Portland State University, Northwestern University
Awards2005 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the University at Albany Excellence in Teaching Award, 2011 Criminology Teaching Award from American Society of Criminology
Scientific career
Fields Criminology
Institutions University at Albany, SUNY, University of Maryland, College Park
Thesis Structure and ideology in a university faculty's response to an intramural change  (1980)

David McDowall (born 1949) is an American criminologist and distinguished teaching professor in the School of Criminal Justice at University at Albany, SUNY, where he is also co-director of the Violence Research Group. Educated at Portland State University and Northwestern University, he taught at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1990 until joining the University at Albany in 1996. He has published a number of studies pertaining to gun violence in the United States.

Contents

Education

David McDowall was born in 1949. [1] He received his B.A. from Portland State University in 1973 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1975 and 1980, respectively. All three of his degrees are in sociology. [2] After graduating from Northwestern, he did postdoctoral work at the University of Michigan. [3]

Career

McDowall joined the faculty of the University of Maryland, College Park in 1990 as an associate professor in their Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and became a full professor there in 1992. In 1996, he joined the faculty of the University at Albany's School of Criminal Justice, where he was appointed a distinguished teaching professor in 2013. [2] [4] Prior to being appointed a distinguished professor, he had served on over 25 dissertation committees. [5] At the University at Albany, he is also the co-director of the Violence Research Group, along with Colin Loftin. [6] [7]

Research

McDowall is a criminologist [8] whose research focuses on "the social distribution of crime and criminal victimization." [6] He has also researched gun violence and the effects of certain gun laws, such as the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, which, in a 1991 study, he and his co-authors found was followed by "a prompt decline in homicides and suicides by firearms in the District of Columbia". [9] [10] He has also researched the frequency of defensive gun use, and has criticized the research of Gary Kleck with respect to this issue, saying, "Kleck is a really smart guy. That's why his work is as prominent as it is. . . (But) I think he starts with conclusions, then works backward to support them." [11] He has also criticized Kleck's 1995 study estimating 2.5 million DGU incidents per year for including not just situations in which guns were used by crime victims, but also those when people thought the presence of a gun protected them from threats. In 2012, he said that "Given that half of the U.S. households own a gun, armed self-defense is extremely uncommon." [12] In 1995, McDowall and two of his colleagues published a study evaluating the effect of passing more lenient concealed carry laws on homicide rates in three states, and found that these laws did not reduce homicide rates and, in fact, may have even increased them in two of the states studied. [13] [14] The same study found that one of the states that relaxed their concealed carry laws, Oregon, saw a decrease in homicide rates in its largest city, Portland. McDowall told the New York Times that this may have happened because Oregon passed stricter laws regulating the purchase of guns around the time they also relaxed their concealed carry laws, "and that might have overwhelmed the effect of the relaxation." [15]

Honors and awards

In 2005, McDowall received two awards for Excellence in Teaching: one from the State University of New York System's Chancellor, and the other from the President of the University at Albany. In 2009, he was named a fellow of the American Society of Criminology (ASC); in 2011, he received a Criminology Teaching Award from the ASC in recognition of his entire teaching career. [2]

Editorial activities

McDowall was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Quantitative Criminology from 2001 to 2008. [2] He became the editor-in-chief of Criminology starting in the fall of 2016. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun control</span> Laws or policies that regulate firearms

Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.

Gary LaFree is a Professor and Chair of the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Director of the Maryland Crime Research and Innovation Center (MCRIC) and the Founding Director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). His main areas of expertise are sociology, criminology, race and crime, cross-national comparative research and political violence and terrorism.

Gary Kleck is a criminologist and the David J. Bordua Professor Emeritus of Criminology at Florida State University.

Don Bernard Kates Jr., was an American lawyer and research fellow with The Independent Institute in Oakland, California who focused on promoting gun rights. His books include Armed: New Perspectives On Gun Control, Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, Firearms and Violence: Issues of Public Policy, and The Great American Gun Debate: Essays on Firearms and Violence.

Michael D. Maltz is an American electrical engineer, criminologist and Emeritus Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago in criminal justice, and adjunct professor and researcher at Ohio State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun violence in the United States</span> Phenomenon of gun violence in the United States

Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States. In 2022, up to 100 daily fatalities and hundreds of daily injuries were attributable to gun violence in the United States. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics reported 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were suicides. The national rate of firearm deaths rose from 10.3 people for every 100,000 in 1999 to 11.9 people per 100,000 in 2018, equating to over 109 daily deaths. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm.

Milton Heumann is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. He received his B.A. from Brooklyn College and his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Yale University. He taught at the University of Michigan before joining the Rutgers faculty in 1981. He has spent many semesters as a Visiting Lecturer and Guggenheim Fellow at Yale Law School. He was chair of the Political Science Department of Rutgers from 1997 - 2003. His principal research interests are in the area of legal process, criminal justice and civil liberties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence W. Sherman</span> American experimental criminologist and police educator

Lawrence W. Sherman is an experimental criminologist and police educator who is the founder of evidence-based policing. Since 2022 he has served as Chief Scientific Officer of the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard, as well as Wolfson Professor of Criminology Emeritus at the University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology Wolfson Professor of Criminology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defensive gun use</span> Use or presentation of a firearm for self-defense, defense of others or protecting property

Defensive gun use (DGU) is the use or presentation of a firearm for self-defense, defense of others or, in some cases, protecting property. The frequency of incidents involving DGU and their effectiveness in providing safety and reducing crime are controversial issues in gun politics and criminology, chiefly in the United States. Different authors and studies employ different criteria for what constitutes a defensive gun use which leads to controversy in comparing statistical results. Perceptions of defensive gun use are recurring themes in discussions over gun rights, gun control, armed police, open and concealed carry of firearms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Killias</span>

Christoph Martin Killias is a Swiss criminologist who has been a permanent visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen's law school since 2013. He is also the co-chair of the Campbell Collaboration's Crime and Justice Group.

Richard Rosenfeld was an American criminologist and former Curators’ Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Janet Lynn Lauritsen is an American criminologist and the Curators' Distinguished Professor Emerita of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Francis Thomas Cullen, Jr. is an American criminologist and Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice.

Marc G. Gertz is an American criminologist and professor at the Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. His research includes an influential 1995 survey he conducted with his Florida State University colleague, Gary Kleck, on the frequency of defensive gun use.

Charles Franklin Wellford is an American criminologist, emeritus professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland–College Park. He previously served as the department's chair. In 1996, the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice established the Charles Wellford Fellowship in his honor. He was chair of the University of Maryland's Athletic Council from 1995 to 2008. He was the president of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) during 1995–96. In addition he was the research director for the National Issues Center at Westinghouse Corporation, director of the Federal Justice Research Program, Director of the Maryland Justice Analysis Center, Director of the Center for Applied Studies, Director of the Office of Academic Computing, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and Dean of Continuing and Extended Education. He twice served as the President of the Atlantic Coast Conference and served on the Championship Cabinet and Management Council of the NCAA.

Colin Loftin is an American criminologist and Distinguished Professor at the University at Albany School of Criminal Justice. At the University at Albany, he is also the co-director of the Violence Research Group, along with David McDowall.

Alan Jeffrey Lizotte is an American criminologist and Distinguished Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany.

Denise Claire Gottfredson is an American criminologist and professor in the department of criminal justice and criminology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Margaret A. Zahn is an American sociologist and criminologist at North Carolina State University. She received her PhD in sociology from the Ohio State University in 1969. Zahn has served as president of the American Society of Criminology and has received Fellow of the American Society of Criminology for Outstanding Lifetime Career Achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg Barak</span> American criminologist, academic, and author

Gregg Barak is an American criminologist, academic, and author. He is an emeritus professor of criminology and criminal justice at Eastern Michigan University, a former visiting distinguished professor in the College of Justice & Safety at Eastern Kentucky University, and a 2017 Fulbright Scholar in residence at the School of Law, Pontificia Universidade Catholica, Porto Alegre, Brazil. He is most known for his research in the fields of criminology and criminal justice.

References

  1. ↑ "David McDowall". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "David McDowall CV" (PDF). University at Albany. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "ASC Fellow Recipients" (PDF). The Criminologist. American Society of Criminology. July–August 2009. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Distinguished Teaching Professors". University at Albany. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "McDowall Named Distinguished Teaching Professor". News Center. University at Albany. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 "David McDowall". University at Albany. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Research". School of Criminal Justice. University at Albany. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Kleck, Gary (2001). Armed: New Perspectives on Gun Control. Prometheus Books. p. 236. ISBN   9781615922406. University of Maryland criminologist David McDowall
  9. ↑ Loftin, C; McDowall, D; Wiersema, B; Cottey, TJ (5 December 1991). "Effects of restrictive licensing of handguns on homicide and suicide in the District of Columbia". The New England Journal of Medicine. 325 (23): 1615–20. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199112053252305 . PMID   1669841.
  10. ↑ Vedantam, Shankar (7 July 2008). "Packing Protection or Packing Suicide Risk?". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Galloway, Paul (19 June 1994). "Under The Gun". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Rainey, David (20 December 2012). "More or fewer guns? The experts are divided". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  13. ↑ McDowall, David; Loftin, Colin; Wiersema, Brian (Autumn 1995). "Easing Concealed Firearms Laws: Effects on Homicide in Three States". The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 86 (1): 193. doi:10.2307/1144006. JSTOR   1144006.
  14. ↑ Worthington, Rogers (5 February 1996). "Experts Tackle Gun Issues". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Study Links Rise in Killings to Relaxed Gun Laws". The New York Times. 15 March 1995.
  16. ↑ "UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice Welcomes Flagship Journals". University at Albany. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.