 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
2009. Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, 2nd Edition, New York: Routledge.
Sex for Sale contains original studies (new to the 2nd edition) on sex work, its risks and benefits, and its political implications. The book covers areas not commonly researched, including gay and lesbian pornography, telephone sex workers, customers of prostitutes, male and female escorts who work independently, street prostitution, sex tourism, legal prostitution, and strip clubs that cater to women. The book also tracks trends during the past decade, including the "mainstreaming" and growing acceptance of some types of sexual commerce and the growing criminalization of other types, such as sex trafficking. Sex for Sale offers a window into the lived experiences of sex workers as well as an analysis of the larger gender arrangements and political structures that shape the experiences of workers and their clients. The book greatly contributes to a growing research literature that documents the rich variation, nuances, and complexities in the exchange of sexual services, performances, and products.
2009. "Sociology of Sex Work," Annual Review of Sociology, v. 35: 213-234.
2009. "Police Relations with Black and White Youths in Different Urban Neighborhoods," Urban Affairs Review, v. 44: 858-885 (with Rod Brunson).
2009. "Strategic Respones to the Police among Inner-City Youth," Sociological Quarterly, v. 50: 235-256 (with Rod Brunson).
2009. "Legalizing Prostitution: Morality Politics in Western Australia," British Journal of Criminology, 49: 88-105.
2008. "Police-Community Relations in a Majority-Black City," Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, v. 45: 398-428 (with Steven Tuch and Wesley Skogan).
2007. "Prostitution: Facts and Fictions," Contexts, 6 (Fall).
2007. "Prostitution as a Form of Work," Sociology Compass, v. 1.
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. 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.
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
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 Culture." 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.
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 sexism in rap music (with Charis Kubrin) and a book based on a comparative examination of government policies on prostitution in several nations.
Courses Taught
SOC 003: Introduction to Criminal Justice
SOC 111: Field Research
SOC 178: Deviance and Control
SOC 192: Advanced Seminar 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
Phillips 409 D
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