 Ronald Weitzer
Professor of Sociology
Ronald Weitzer received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985 and has been at The George Washington University since 1988. His primary area of research specialization is criminology, and he has conducted research on police-minority relations in Northern Ireland, South Africa, and the United States. He is also an expert on the sex industry, with particular expertise on American policies and law enforcement on prostitution and sex trafficking.
Selected Publications
2007. "Prostitution as a Form of Work," Sociology Compass, v. 1 (October 2007).
2007. "Police Relations with Arabs and Jews in Israel," British Journal of Criminology, v. 47 (September): 728-745 (with Badi Hasisi).
2007. "The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking: Ideology and Institutionalization of a Moral Crusade," Politics & Society, v. 35 (September): 447-475.
2006. "Prostitution Panic," American Sexuality, v.3, no. 4 (online journal).
2006. Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform. Cambridge University Press (with Steven Tuch). This book examines police relations with whites, blacks, and Hispanics in the United States, focusing on issues of police misconduct, racialized policing, and a host of reforms that might improve policing and enhance public confidence and trust in the police. Research for the book was funded by the National Institute of Justice.
2006. "Moral Crusade against Prostitution," Society v. 43 (March-April).
2005. "Alternatives to Secure Detention and Confinement of Juvenile Offenders," Juvenile Justice Bulletin, OJJDP/U.S. Department of Justice (with James Austin and Kelly Dedel Johnson).
2005. "New Directions in Research on Prostitution." Crime, Law, and Social Change v. 43.
2005. "Can the Police Be Reformed?," Contexts, v. 4 (Summer).
2005. "Racially Biased Policing." Social Forces, v. 83 (with Steven Tuch)
2005. "Flawed Theory and Method in Studies of Prostitution," Violence Against Women, v. 11
2005. "Determinants of Public Satisfaction with the Police," Police Quarterly, v.8 (with Steven Tuch)
2004. "Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct." Social Problems, v. 51 (with Steven Tuch)
2004. "Reforming the Police: Racial Differences in Public Support for Change." Criminology, v. 42 (with Steven Tuch)
2004. "Breaking News: How Local TV News and Real-World Conditions Affect Fear of Crime." Justice Quarterly, v. 21 (with Charis Kubrin)
2003. "New Directions in Social Disorganization Theory." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, v. 40 (with Charis Kubrin)
2003. "Retaliatory Homicide: Concentrated Disadvantage and Neighborhood Context." Social Problems, v. 50 (with Charis Kubrin)
2003. Current Controversies in Criminology. Prentice-Hall.
2002. "Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience," Criminology, 40.
2001. Deviance and Social Control: A Reader. McGraw-Hill.
2000. "White, Black, or Blue Cops?: Race and Citizens' Assessments of Police Officers," Journal of Criminal Justice 28: 313-324.
2000. Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry. Routledge.
This is an edited book with chapters on issues not commonly studied, such as actors in the porn industry, police vice squads, call girls, prostitutes' customers, Nevada's legal brothels, telephone sex workers, gay pornography, lap dancing in strip clubs, as well as victimization, legalization, and the political implications of sex work.
2000. "Deficiencies in the Sociology of Sex Work," Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance , JAI Press. p. 259-279.
2000. "Racialized Policing: Residents' Perceptions in Three Neighborhoods," Law and Society Review 34: 129-155.
1999. "Prostitution Control in America: Rethinking Public Policy," Crime, Law, and Social Change 32: 83-102.
1999. "Citizens' Perceptions of Police Misconduct: Race and Neighborhood Context," Justice Quarterly 16: 819-846.
1999. "Race, Class, and Perceptions of Discrimination by Police," Crime and Delinquency 45: 494-507.
1995. Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland. State University of New York Press.
Current Projects
Current research includes a study of police-citizen relations in several U.S. citites (with Steve Tuch); research on the growing social movement against sex trafficking; a study of sexism in rap music (with Charis Kubrin); and a comparative examination of government policies on prostitution in several nations.
Courses Taught
SOC 003: Introduction to Criminal Justice
SOC 111: Qualitative Research
SOC 178: Deviance and Control
SOC 192: Fieldwork in Criminal Justice
SOC 232: Qualitative Methodology: Doing Field Research
SOC 246: Comparative Race and Ethnicity
SOC 258: Deviance and Control
SOC 259: Criminology
SOC 273: The Sex Industry
Contact Information
weitzer@gwu.edu
202-994-6895
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