James D. Wright

James D. Wright
Born (1947-11-06) November 6, 1947
Logansport, Indiana
Nationality American
Education Purdue University, University of Wisconsin
Spouse(s) Yes
Children 2
Scientific career
Fields Sociology
Institutions University of Central Florida
Thesis Political alienation in the United States: 1956–1970 (1973)

James David Wright (born November 6, 1947) is an American sociologist. He has been the Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida since 2001. Since 2013, he has also been a Pegasus Professor there.[1] He has written 17 books and over 250 peer-reviewed papers.[2] From 1978 until 2014, he was the editor-in-chief of the academic journal Social Science Research.[3]

Education and career

Wright received his bachelor's degree from Purdue University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1973, he joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst as an assistant professor, where he remained until 1988, when he joined the faculty of Tulane University. In 2001, he left Tulane to join the sociology department at UCF as Distinguished Research Professor.[1]

Research

Wright has researched several topics in the field of sociology, including poverty, homelessness,[4] covenant marriage,[5] and gun control. His assessment of numerous studies regarding gun ownership concluded that using a gun in self-defense increases the chances of harm to oneself, while also decreasing the chances that the user will be victimized by a criminal.[6] In 1983, he collaborated with Peter Rossi and Kathleen Daly on a study underwritten by the National Institute of Justice which showed that about 1% of privately owned guns in the United States are used in crime; the study reported that the "benefits of stricter gun controls ... are at best uncertain, and at worst close to nil."[7] In 1986, he and Rossi published the book Armed and Considered Dangerous, which reported the results of a survey of 1,800 felons. They concluded, among other things, that handgun bans may be counterproductive, as criminals may switch to other, more dangerous weapons instead,[8][9][10] and that criminals are more afraid of armed civilians than of being arrested by police.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "James D. Wright CV" (PDF). University of Central Florida website.
  2. ↑ "2004 Bruce H. Mayhew Jr. Memorial Lecture Series". Department of Sociology. University of South Carolina.
  3. ↑ "About the Editor-in-Chief". International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences 2nd Edition. Elsevier.
  4. ↑ Fulwood, Sam (16 July 1990). "Poor Feeling the Pinch as Low-Rent Housing Shrinks". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ Schemo, Diana Jean (10 November 2001). "In Covenant Marriage, Forging Ties That Bind". New York Times.
  6. ↑ Galloway, Paul (24 February 1985). "Bearing Arms: The Rewards, The Risks". Chicago Tribune. p. 2.
  7. ↑ Kaminer, Wendy (March 1996). "Second Thoughts on the Second Amendment". The Atlantic.
  8. ↑ Wright, James D. (1994). "Armed and Considered Dangerous". De Gruyter.
  9. ↑ Zimring, Franklin E. (July 1987). "James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi". American Journal of Sociology. 93 (1): 224–226. doi:10.1086/228727.
  10. ↑ Lawlor, John (23 March 1989). "Gun Control: First We Should Find Out What Will Work". Chicago Tribune.
  11. ↑ Goldberg, Jeffrey (December 2012). "The Case for More Guns (and More Gun Control)". The Atlantic.
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