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William Alex Pridemore

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Department Head
Franklin Professor of Sociology

Dr. Pridemore is Department Head and Franklin Professor in the Department of Sociology at University of Georgia. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Society of Criminology.

Dr. Pridemore received his PhD in 2000 from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany – SUNY and spent 2003-2004 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard in the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. In 2008 he received the Junior Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco, and in 2023 he received the Albert J. Reiss Jr. Distinguished Scholar Award from ASA’s Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance. In 2009 he received Indiana University’s Trustees Teaching Award. In 2012 he received the Radzinowicz Memorial Prize for his research on poverty, inequality, and national homicide rates. In 2015 he received the Freda Adler Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division of International Criminology and the Gerhard O.W. Mueller Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Science’s International Section, both for significant contributions to international criminology over the course of his career.

Dr. Pridemore played a central role in the creation and was a founding Editorial Board member of Annual Review of Criminology. He has been the American Society of Criminology’s liaison to the American Association for the Advancement of Science for over a decade, and with Karen Parker revived US News & World Report’s ranking of PhD programs in the field of Criminology. Dr. Pridemore created and was the Founding Director of Indiana University’s Workshop in Methods, and he was Dean of the UAlbany School of Criminal Justice School from 2015 to 2020.

RESEARCH

Dr. Pridemore’s main research interests include the impact of social structure and culture on homicide and suicide rates, the role of alcohol in violence and mortality, and the sociology of health and illness. Other research interests include measurement and method, rural criminology and sociology, and the effects of policy on outcomes like violence and health.

Dr. Pridemore has published more than 110 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His research is interdisciplinary in nature and has been published in leading journals in several disciplines, including criminology (Criminology, Annual Review of Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly), sociology (Annual Review of Sociology, Journal of Health & Social Behavior, Social Forces, Social Problems, Social Science & Medicine), and public health and epidemiology (American Journal of Public Health, Addiction, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, European Journal of Public Health, BMC Public Health). He edited a volume on law, crime, and justice in Russia published by Rowman & Littlefield, and with Marieke Liem co-edited a volume on European homicide research published by Springer. Dr. Pridemore’s research has been funded by, among others, National Institutes of Health, National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, National Institute of Justice, and American Sociological Association’s Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline.

Education:
  • PhD, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany - SUNY, 2000.
  • MA, Criminal Justice, Indiana University, 1994.
  • BA, Sociology, Criminal Justice, Indiana University, 1992.
Selected Publications:
  • Pridemore, W. A., Makel, M. C., & Plucker, J. A. (2018). Replication in criminology and the social sciences. Annual Review of Criminology, 1, 19-38.
  • Rogers, M. L., & Pridemore, W. A. (2023). A review and analysis of the impact of homicide measurement on cross-national research. Annual Review of Criminology, 6, 447-470.
  • Pridemore, W. A. (2008). A methodological addition to the cross-national empirical literature on social structure and homicide: A first test of the poverty-homicide thesis. Criminology, 46, 133-154.
  • Pridemore, W. A. (2011). Poverty matters: A reassessment of the inequality-homicide relationship in cross-national studies. British Journal of Criminology, 51, 739-772.
  • Massoglia, M., & Pridemore, W. A. (2015). Incarceration and health. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 291-310.
  • Pridemore, W. A. (2014). The mortality penalty of incarceration: Evidence from a population-based case-control study. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 55, 215-233.
  • Rogers, M. L., & Pridemore, W. A. (2023). Not just another test of institutional anomie theory: Assessing relative institutional imbalances. Justice Quarterly, 40, 559-586.
  • Rogers, M. L., & Pridemore, W. A. (2022). Perceived inequality and cross-national homicide rates. Justice Quarterly, 39, 225-251.
  • Jones, R. W., & Pridemore, W. A. (2019). Toward an integrated multilevel theory of crime at place: Routine activities, social disorganization, and the law of crime concentration. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 35, 543-572.
  • Pridemore, W. A. (2016). Hazardous drinking and violent death among males: Evidence from a population-based case-control study. Social Problems, 63, 573-589.
  • Pridemore, W. A., Chamlin, M. B., & Andreev, E. M. (2013). Reduction in male suicide mortality following the 2006 Russian alcohol policy: An interrupted time series analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 2021-2026.
  • Pridemore, W. A. (2006). Heavy drinking and suicide mortality in Russia. Social Forces, 85, 413-430.
  • Pridemore, W. A. (2002). Vodka and violence: Alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 1921-1930.

 

 

 

 

Of Note:
  • 2019: Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  • 2022: Elected Fellow of the American Society of Criminology.
  • 2023: Albert J. Reiss Jr. Distinguished Scholar Award, American Sociological Association's Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance.
  • 2015: Freda Adler Distinguished Scholar Award, American Society of Criminology's Division of International Criminology.
  • 2015: Gerhard O. W. Mueller Distinguished Scholar Award, Academy of Criminal Justice Science's International Section.
  • 2012: Radzinowicz Memorial Prize (Article of the Year Award), British Journal of Criminology.
  • 2008: Junior Scholar Award, American Sociological Association's Section on Drugs and Society.
  • 2003-2004: Research Fellow, Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.
Articles Featuring William Alex Pridemore

Dr. Pridemore was selected to receive the 2023 Albert J Reiss Distinguished Scholar award.