CURRENT RESEARCH
Neighborhood schools are meant to enrich our communities. They educate our children; they give community members open spaces for sports and other outdoor activities; and they often represent "hub" spaces for parents to get to know each other and develop a shared sense of informal neighborhood social control. But what happens when schools become places that attract gun violence? Not in the form of mass shooting events, but rather, as activity nodes that generate shootings within a single-block radius? This is my current research, and this is what I'm finding...
PROF. ROBERT J. KANE
I'm a Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies at Drexel University in Philadelphia. My research focuses on police authority and accountability, and specifically, how police "fit" into the overall context of urban neighborhoods -- particularly those characterized by racial isolation, and social and economic resource deprivation. My work also examines intersections among community violence, police tactics, and urban health behaviors/outcomes.
MY TEACHING
I mostly enjoy teaching in the areas of urban crime, comparative justice, and crime mapping using Geographic Information Science software. The Criminology program at Drexel is urban, analytical, and international; and I have developed and taught courses that reflect these values. My best, and most challenging, teaching moments occur when taking students overseas to study such topics as policing and social control during the Third Reich.
