Robert E. Worden, Ph.D.
Dr. Worden is the Director of the Finn Institute. He is also an associate professor of criminal justice and public policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York, on whose faculty he has served since 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with specializations in public administration and public policy.
Dr. Worden previously served on the faculties of the University of Georgia and Michigan State University. He has conducted basic research on the forces that shape police decision-making and behavior, and applied research on police strategies, programs, and reforms. His scholarship has appeared in a number of academic journals, and his research has been funded by the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and a number of local governments. In 2000, he was appointed to serve on the National Research Council’s Committee to Review Research on Police Policies and Practices. In 2001, he was appointed by New York’s governor to serve on the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council, on which he continues to serve. He also served on the City of Albany’s Gun Violence Task Force, and New York State’s Crime Analyst Certification Committee; he currently serves on the Albany County Reentry Task Force.
Selected Publications
Worden, Robert E., 1989. “Situational and Attitudinal Explanations of Police Behavior: A Theoretical Reappraisal and Empirical Assessment,” Law & Society Review 23 (4): 667-711.
Worden, Robert E., 1990. “A Badge and a Baccalaureate: Policies, Hypotheses, and Further Evidence,” Justice Quarterly 7 (September): 565-592.
Worden, Robert E., 1993. “Toward Equity and Efficiency in Law Enforcement: Differential Police Response,” American Journal of Police 12 (1): 1-32.
Worden, Robert E., Timothy S. Bynum, and James Frank, 1994. “Police Crackdowns on Drug Abuse and Trafficking,” in Doris Layton MacKenzie and Craig D. Uchida, eds., Drugs and Crime: Evaluating Public Policy Initiatives. Thousand Oaks, Cal.: Sage.
Worden, Robert E., 1995. “The ‘Causes’ of Police Brutality: Theory and Evidence on Police Use of Force,” in William A. Geller and Hans Toch, eds., And Justice for All: Understanding and Controlling Police Abuse of Force. Washington: Police Executive Research Forum.
Worden, Robert E., 1996. “The Effectiveness of Street-Level Drug Enforcement,” in Larry T. Hoover, ed., Quantifying Quality in Policing. Washington: Police Executive Research Forum.
Bynum, Timothy S., and Robert E. Worden, 1996. Police Drug Crackdowns: An Evaluation of Implementation and Effects. Report to the National Institute of Justice. East Lansing, Mich.: School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University.
Bayley, David H., and Robert E. Worden, 1996. Federal Funding of Police Overtime: A Utilization Study. Report to the National Institute of Justice. Albany, NY: Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, University at Albany.
Worden, Robert E., and Robin L. Shepard, 1996. “Demeanor, Crime, and Police Behavior: A Reexamination of the Police Services Study Data,” Criminology 34 (February): 83-105.
Worden, Robert E., and Stephen D. Mastrofski, 1998. “Differential Police Response: Evaluation,” in Larry T. Hoover, ed., Police Program Evaluation. Washington: Police Executive Research Forum.
Paoline, Eugene A., Stephanie M. Myers, and Robert E. Worden, 2000. “Police Culture, Individualism, and Community Policing: Evidence from Two Police Departments,” Justice Quarterly 17 (September): 575-605.
Worden, Robert E., and Shelagh E. Catlin, 2002. “The Use and Abuse of Force by Police,” in Kim Lersch, ed., Policing and Misconduct. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
