Faculty

A Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice researcher’s book has earned top honors from the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Historical Criminology.

Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice Assistant Professor Emma Fridel, offered her expertise in a Dec. 2 PBS report on the drop in mass killings in the U.S. in 2025.  Fridel, who is the director of the Violence and Victimization Research and Policy Institute in the college's Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research, noted that perspective is necessary when assessing the prevalence of extreme events like mass killings. 

FSU College of Criminology and Criminal Justice researcher Dan Mears, has published a commentary, 'Crime and the Deterrence Myth,' in the Nov. 30 edition of the Orlando Sentinel.  Mears is a Distinguished Research Professor, the Mark C. Stafford Professor of Criminology, and Director of the Corrections Research and Policy Institute in the College’s Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research.

Financial scams targeting older adults have reached a high level of sophistication, posing significant risks to this vulnerable demographic.

Researchers from Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice have published an article in ‘Scientific American’ on the rapidly increasing rates of financial fraud targeting older adults.

Brendan Lantz and the Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute (HCRPI) have received the 2025 Eva Lassman “Take Action Against Hate” Award, presented by Gonzaga University’s Center for the Study of Hate.

Florida State University Professor of Criminology, Kevin M. Beaver, is ranked among the world’s top researchers by Research.com, thanks to his outstanding publication and citations record.

In the history of criminology, few studies have been as impactful as the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study, which aimed to prevent delinquency in young, underprivileged boys.

The idea that punishment of crime is an effective deterrent goes back millennia. Fear of punishment causes people to reduce criminal activity — or commit no crime at all— the thinking goes.

A research faculty member and recipient of numerous national and international policing awards from Florida State University’s College of Criminology & Criminal Justice has been named to the board of directors of the National Policing Institute (NPI). Darrel Stephens is the director of the Policing Research and Policy Institute in the Center for Criminology & Public Policy Research in the College.