David Pyrooz

Background

About David Pyrooz

I am interested why people violate laws, norms, and rules, what happens to them when they do, and ways to increase safety and justice in our communities. Most of my research is aimed at the criminology of social groups, particularly gangs. I study how and why people organize themselves into groups, the criminal and non-criminal consequences of these groups for individuals and communities, and the legal and non-governmental responses to them. I conduct fundamental and applied research in the field of criminology and criminal justice broadly. I am currently managing four projects:(1) a replication and extension of Functional Family Therapy-Gangs, a family-based intervention to reduce problem behavior, using a randomized controlled trial in three judicial districts in Colorado (PI; funded by Arnold Ventures);(2) serving as a research and evaluation partner for Aurora SAVE to reduce youth violence, which blends the city's Youth Violence Prevention Program with focused deterrence intervention (PI; funded by the City of Aurora);(3) an experimental evaluation of a solitary confinement step-down program in Oregon (PI: funded by Charles Koch Foundation);(4) assessing the viability of new national data sources on gang activity and determining public opinion on core issues in understanding and responding to gangs (PI; internal funding).