Scott Decker

Scott H. Decker is a Foundation Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. The American Society of Criminology awarded Decker the title of "Fellow" in 2012 for his scholarly contribution to the intellectual life of the discipline and his substantial role in the career development of other criminologists. Prior to becoming the inaugural director of the ASU School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (2006- 2013), he was Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at UM-St. Louis where he received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research in 1989 and in 2001 was named Curators' Professor. He was named a Fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2007, and was the Hindelang Lecturer at the University at Albany in 2009. In March, 2011 he won the Bruce Smith Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Dr. Decker is the author of 15 books, over 150 articles and chapters, and more than one hundred presentations in the US, Canada, Europe and Central America. His research has been funded by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Professor Decker's primary research focus has been on criminal justice policy, gangs, violence, and the offender’s perspective. Four of his books have won major awards: Life in the Gang: Family, Friends and Violence, (Cambridge University Press, 1996), Burglars on the Job: Streetlife and Residential Burglary (Northeastern University Press, 1994), Lessons from the Inside: Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling (Temple, 2008) and European Street Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups (Alta Mira, 2005).