James David Wright (November 6, 1947 - April 29, 2019) was an American sociologist. He had been the Provost's Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Central Florida since 2001. Since 2013, he had also been a Pegasus Professor there.
He wrote 17 books and over 250 peer-reviewed papers. From 1978 until 2014, he was the
editor-in-chief of the academic journal ''
Social Science Research
''Social Science Research'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of sociology. It was established in 1972 by Academic Press and is currently published by Elsevier, which acquired Academic Press in 2000. The editor-in-chi ...
''.
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.
Research
Wright has researched several topics in the field of sociology, including
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
,
homelessness
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
,
covenant marriage, and
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
. 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. In 1983, he collaborated with
Peter Rossi
Peter Henry Rossi (December 27, 1921 – October 7, 2006) was a prominent sociologist best known for his research on the origin of homelessness, and documenting the changing face of American homelessness in the 1980s. Rossi was also known for his ...
and Kathleen Daly on a study underwritten by the
National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenil ...
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." 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, and that criminals are more afraid of armed civilians than of being arrested by police.
Books and monographs
* ''A Florida State of Mind: An Unnatural History of America's Weirdest State'' (St. Martin's Press, 2019)
* ''Lost Souls: Manners and Morals in Contemporary American Society'' (Routledge, 2018)
* ''Violence, Periodization and Definition of the Cultural Revolution: A Case Study of Two Deaths by the Red Guards'' (Brill, 2018, with Joshua Zhang)
* ''Hunger in the Land of Plenty: A Critical Look at Food Insecurity'' (Lynne Rienner, 1018; with Amy M. Donley, Sara Strickhouser Vega)
* ''Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State: Down and Out in Theme Park Nation'' (Routledge, 2011; with Amy M. Donely)
* ''Hard Lives, Mean Streets: Violence In The Lives Of Homeless Women'' (Northeastern University Press, 2010; with Jana L. Jasinski, Jennifer Wesely, Elizabeth E. Mustaine)
* ''Covenant Marriage: The Movement to Reclaim Tradition in America'' (Rutgers University Press, 2008; with Steven L. Nock, Laura A. Sanchez)
* ''Fixin' to Git: One Fan's Love Affair with NASCAR's Winston Cup'' (Duke University Press, 2002)
* ''Beside the Golden Door: Policy, Politics and the Homeless'' (Routledge, 1998; with Beth A. Rubin, Joel A. Devine)
* ''In the Line of Fire: Youth, Guns and Violence in Urban America'' (Aldine, 1995; with Joseph F. Sheley)
* ''Drugs as a Social Problem'' (HarperCollins, 1994; with Joel A. Devine)
* ''The Greatest of Evils: Urban Poverty and the American Underclass'' (Aldine, 1993; with Joel A. Devine)
* ''Address Unknown: The Homeless in America'' (Aldine, 1989)
* ''Homelessness and Health: A Special Report'' (McGraw Hill, 1987; with Eleanor Weber)
* ''Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms'' (Aldine, 1986; with Peter H. Rossi)
* ''State of the Masses: Sources of Discontent, Change and Stability'' (Aldine, 1986, with Richard F. Hamilton)
* ''Under the Gun: Weapons, Crime, and Violence in America'' (Aldine, 1983; with Peter H. Rossi, Kathleen Daly)
References
External links
Faculty page*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, James D.
1947 births
2019 deaths
American sociologists
University of Central Florida faculty
People from Logansport, Indiana
Gun violence researchers
Academic journal editors
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Purdue University alumni
University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty
Tulane University faculty