Bruce Arrigo

Professor, Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology
Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program

Faculty Website

Research Interests: Mental Health, Law, and Policy; Ethics and Public Policy; Crime and Social Justice

Dr. Arrigo was awarded the Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the Pennsylvania State University in the Administration of Justice where he specialized in the study of law, mental health, and policy. His research and scholarship is interdisciplinary in its scope, and it is pertinent to a wide range of public interest controversies. Broadly speaking, these controversies probe the landscape of human justice, collective wellbeing, and civil society. He is also the (co)author and/or (co)editor of 25 titles, published or in press and serves on the Editorial or Advisory Boards of several (inter)national periodicals relevant to the disciplines of sociology/criminology, law/legal studies, psychiatry/psychology, and social/public policy.

Dr. Arrigo’s research and scholarship is interdisciplinary in its scope, and it is pertinent to the advancement of human justice and social change across a wide range of public interest controversies. More specifically, he relies upon normative, doctrinal, and/or qualitative methods of inquiry to investigate enduring problems or emerging issues in: (1) law, health, and policy; (2) theory, culture, and society; and (3) disorder, crime, and punishment. His exploration of these problems and issues extends from the interpersonal to the global and from the transnational to the transpersonal, resulting in more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, law reviews, chapters in books, and academic essays. He is also the (co)author or (co)editor of more than 30 titles and volumes, published or in press. Recent books include Revolution in penology: Rethinking the society of captives (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and The ethics of total confinement: A critique of madness, citizenship, and social justice (Oxford University Press, 2011). Recent textbooks and/or reference works include Introduction to forensic psychology 3rd ed. (Elsevier, 2012), The Routledge handbook of international crime and justice studies (Routledge, 2014), and The encyclopedia of criminal justice ethics, vol., 1-2 (Sage, 2014).

Dr. Arrigo was the Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed sociological quarterly, Humanity & Society (1996-2000); is founding and current Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed behavioral science publication, Journal of Forensic Psychology: (Research and) Practice(2000- Present); and serves on the Editorial or Advisory Boards of several (inter)national periodicals relevant to the disciplines of sociology/criminology, law/legal studies, psychiatry/psychology, and social/public policy. Professor Arrigo was the founding Book Series Editor for Criminal Justice and Psychology (Carolina Academic Press) and for Critical Perspectives in Criminology (University of Illinois Press). He is also the General Editor for the 3-volume set, The encyclopedia of surveillance, security, and privacy (Sage, forthcoming).

Professor Arrigo is the recipient of numerous professional awards and/or recognitions, and these honors are indicative of his prominence as a cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary educator. Examples include: (1) elected Fellow, American Psychological Association (Div. 41, Law and Psychology) and elected Fellow, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences; (2) Lifetime Achievement Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems (Div. on Crime and Juvenile Delinquency) and Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society of Criminology (Div. on Critical Criminology); and (3) the Joseph B. Gittler Award (for significant scholarly achievements addressing the ethical resolution of social problems), Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Dr. Arrigo has been a (co)principal investigator for a number of public, private, and corporate grants and contracts totaling approximately $3,000,000. Sources of funding support have included the Departments of HUD and FEMA, the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (CA), and the William Penn Foundation (PA). He has served as a consultant to various organizations and institutions including the Correctional Service of Canada, the National Institute of Justice, the Florida Psychological Association, the National Science Foundation, and Savant Learning Systems. These consultancies have emphasized progressive public affairs policy and practice, evidenced-based research and programming, and citizenship-oriented education and training.

Recent Publications:

• Crewe, D., Arrigo, B., & Polizzi, D. (2020). Problematizing Peacemaking: A Conversational Inquiry and Philosophical Critique. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Criminology, 12.
• Arrigo, B. A., Sellers, B., & Sostakas, J. (2020). Pre-crime, Post-criminology, and the Captivity of Ultramodern Desire. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 33(2), 497-514.
• Browning, M., & Arrigo, B. (2021). Stop and risk: Policing, data, and the digital age of discrimination. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(2), 298-316.
• Davis, S., & Arrigo, B. (2021). The Dark Web and anonymizing technologies: Legal pitfalls, ethical prospects, and policy directions from radical criminology. Crime, Law and Social Change, 76(4), 367-386.
• Arrigo, B. A., & Sellers, B. G. (Eds.). (2021). The pre-crime society: Crime, culture and control in the ultramodern age. Policy Press.
• Arrigo, B. A., & Sellers, B. G. (2021). The ‘risk’society thesis and the culture (s) of crime control. In The Pre-Crime Society (pp. 17-42). Bristol University Press.
• Arrigo, B. A., Sellers, B. G., & Butta, F. (2021). Introduction: The ultramodern age of criminology, control societies and ‘dividual’justice policy. In The Pre-Crime Society (pp. 1-14). Bristol University Press.
• Sellers, B., & Arrigo, B. (2021). PART I. Theories, Theorists and Theoretical Perspectives. In The Pre-Crime Society: Crime, Culture and Control in the Ultramodern Age. Bristol University Press.
• Sellers, B., & Arrigo, B. (2021). Visions of the Pre-CriminalStudent: Reimagining SchoolDigital Surveillance. In The Pre-Crime Society: Crime, Culture and Control in the Ultramodern Age (pp. 105-126). Bristol University Press.
• Armstrong, J., Arrigo, B., & Ashby, W. R. (2022) ANS hyperarousal and criminal behaviour 63fig, 65, 69 antisocial behaviour see criminal behaviour Apollo 13 (film) 22. behaviour, 63(65), 69.
• Arrigo, B. A. (2022). Justice: Rethinking Crime and sagepcomournals-permissons. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 66, 9.
• Arrigo, B. A., & Sellers, B. G. (2022). Psychological jurisprudence and the role of police psychology in community psychology. Police Psychology, 131-148.
• Williams, C., & Arrigo, B. (2022). The virtues of justice: Toward a moral and jurisprudential psychology. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 66(9), 962-979.
• Haley, S., & Arrigo, B. (2022). Ethical considerations at the intersection of climate change and reproductive justice: directions from green criminology. Critical Criminology, 30(4), 1001-1018.
• Arrigo, B. A., & Sellers, B. G. (2022). Psychological jurisprudence as deconstructionist method: The theory and science of virtue-based research. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 33(2), 172-192.
• Arrigo, B., Sellers, B., Copes, H., & Paz, J. (2022). New qualitative methods and critical research directions in crime, law, and justice: editors’ introduction. Journal of criminal justice education, 33(2), 145-150.
• Sellers, B. G., & Arrigo, B. A. (2022). The narrative framework of psychological jurisprudence: Virtue ethics as criminal justice practice. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 63, 101671.
• Ward, T., Arrigo, B., Barnao, M., Beech, A., Brown, D. A., Cording, J., … & Taxman, F. (2022). Urgent issues and prospects in correctional rehabilitation practice and research. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 27(2), 103-128.
• Arrigo, B., & Shaw, O. P. (2023). The de-realization of Black bodies in an era of mass digital surveillance: A techno-criminological critique. Theoretical Criminology, 27(2), 265-282.
• Bersot, H. Y. (2023). Dr. Bruce A. Arrigo: Activist Scholar. In Bruce Arrigo: Activism, Crime, and Justice (pp. 27-44). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
• Arrigo, B. (2023). Diagnosing Dignity’s De-Realization: Lessons From The ‘Laws Of Captivity’Thesis. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 17438721231196307.
• Arrigo, B. A. (2024). Practice framework theorizing in correctional rehabilitation: Lessons from constitutive penology. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 29(2), 132-146.
  Arrigo, B. (2025). Psychological jurisprudence and the working “tools” of justice: Diagnostic commentary and transgressive philosophy. Punishment & Society, 14624745251335997.