Firearm violence and policy, crime/violence, punishment, and health, crime and place, life-course criminology/criminal careers, computational social science
Dr. Beidi Dong is an Associate Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University. He earned his PhD from the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at the University of Florida and completed postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests revolve around identifying risk and protective factors for community violence in the United States and developing evidence-based strategies to prevent and alleviate the negative impacts of violence on affected individuals and communities equitably. His research also addresses health disparities and inequities associated with crime/violence and punishment.
His research largely draws from two theoretical perspectives. The life-course perspective stresses the significance of life-span and intergenerational development as a unifying idea. It is essential to understand the onset, timing, duration, intensity, persistence, and desistance of criminal offending and explore the effects of life circumstances and events on the course (both stability and change) of offending (e.g., see his research on life-course trajectories of gang members and gun carriers). The socio-contextual perspective, on the other hand, emphasizes the role of neighborhood conditions and proximate micro-geographic locations in shaping individuals’ routine activities and the likelihood of crime and violence (e.g., see his research on the geographic overlap of violent crime hot spots and ill health, situational triggers of gunshot assault, and disparities in urban gun violence).
From a methodological standpoint, he employs various quantitative and computational social science methods to enhance public safety and health.
Dong, B., & Wilson, D. (2022). State firearm legislation and youth/young adult handgun carrying in the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health, 71(6), 751-756.
Dong, B., & Wu, X. (2022). Reaching and engaging people: Analyzing tweeting practices of large U.S. police departments pre- and post- the killing of George Floyd. PLOS ONE, e0269288. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269288
Dong, B. (2021). Developmental comorbidity of substance use and handgun carrying among American youth. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 61(2), 209-216.
Dong, B., White, C., & Weisburd, D. (2020). Poor health and violent crime hot spots: Mitigating the undesirable co-occurrence through focused place-based interventions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 58, 799-806.
Dong, B., Morrison, C., Branas, C. Richmond, T., & Wiebe, D. (2020). As violence unfolds: A space-time study of situational triggers of violent victimization among urban youth. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 36, 119-152.
Dong, B. & Krohn, M. (2020). Sent home versus being arrested: The relative influence of school and police intervention on drug use. Justice Quarterly, 37(6), 985-1011.
Dong, B., Jacoby, S., Morrison, C. & Wiebe, D. (2019). Longitudinal heterogeneity in handgun carrying behavior among urban American youth: Intervention priorities at different life stages. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64(4), 502-508.
Dong, B., & Wiebe, D. (2018). Violence and beyond: Life-course features of handgun carrying in the urban United States and the associated long-term life consequences. Journal of Criminal Justice, 54, 1-11.
Dong, B., Branas, C., Richmond, T., Morrison, C., & Wiebe, D. (2017). Youth's daily activities and situational triggers of gunshot assault in urban environments. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61, 779-785.
Dong, B., & Krohn, M. D. (2016). Dual trajectories of gang affiliation and delinquent peer association during adolescence: An examination of long-term offending outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45, 746-762.
CRIM 710 Criminological Theory
CRIM 515 Criminal Justice Research Methods and Data Analysis
CRIM 491/492 Honors Seminar--Mass Shootings in the United States: Patterns, Causes, and Responses
CRIM 320 Crime and Place
CRIM 315 Research Methods and Analysis in Criminology
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biostatistics & Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania
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PhD, Criminology, Law and Society, University of Florida
BSS, Sociology, University of Hong Kong