David Kirk

Faculty Research Associate — Ph.D., University of Chicago

Associate Professor of Sociology

Contact

E-mail: dkirk@prc.utexas.edu
Phone: 512-471-0141
Office: CLA 2.406C
Campus Mail Code: G1800

Biography

David S. Kirk (Ph.D., Sociology, University of Chicago) is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and a Faculty Research Associate of the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Kirk's research agenda is primarily organized around three inter-related themes: first, the legitimacy of the law and the effects of illegitimacy on crime and the willingness of residents to cooperate with the police; second, the effect of neighborhood culture and conditions on criminal and delinquent behavior; and third, prisoner reentry and the consequences of housing and parole policies for offender reintegration. One recent study examined the detrimental consequences of punitive enforcement of immigration laws on public cooperation with the police in immigrant communities. Kirk's recent research has appeared in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Criminology, and The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

NIH Biosketch

Publications

Click on the document title to open the publication:

Kirk David S., and Robert J. Sampson. 2013. “Juvenile Arrest and Collateral Educational Damage in the Transition to Adulthood.” Sociology of Education 86(1): 36-62.

Kirk, David S., and Derek S. Hyra. 2012. “Home Foreclosures and Community Crime: Causal or Spurious Association?” Social Science Quarterly 93(3): 648-670.

Kirk, David S., Andrew V. Papachristos, Jeffrey Fagan, and Tom R. Tyler. 2012. "The Paradox of Law Enforcement in Immigrant Communities: Does Tough Immigration Enforcement Undermine Public Safety?" The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 641: 79-98.

Kirk, David S. 2012. "Residential Change as a Turning Point in the Life Course of Crime: Desistance or Temporary Cessation?" Criminology 50(2): 329-358.

Kirk, David S., and Andrew V. Papachristos. 2011. “Cultural Mechanisms and the Persistence of Neighborhood Violence.” American Journal of Sociology 116(4): 1190-1233.

Kirk, David S., and Mauri Matsuda. 2011. “Legal Cynicism, Collective Efficacy, and the Ecology of Arrest.” Criminology 49(2): 443-472.

Kirk David S., and Robert J. Sampson. 2011. “Crime and the Production of Safe Schools.” In Greg Duncan and Richard Murnane (eds.), Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, School, and Children's Life Chances. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Kirk, David S., and John H. Laub. 2010. “Neighborhood Change and Crime in the Modern Metropolis.” Crime and Justice: A Review of Research 39: 441-502. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kirk, David S. 2010. "Causal Inference via Natural Experiments and Instrumental Variables: The Effect of ‘Knifing Off’ from the Past." In J.M. MacDonald (ed.), Advances in Criminological Theory, (Volume 18), Measuring Crime and Criminality. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

Kirk, David S. 2009. “A Natural Experiment on Residential Change and Recidivism: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina.” American Sociological Review 74(3): 484-505.

Kirk, David S. 2009. “Unraveling the Contextual Effects on Student Suspension and Juvenile Arrest: The Independent and Interdependent Influences of School, Neighborhood, and Family Social Controls.” Criminology 47(2): 479-520.

Kirk, David S. 2008. “The Neighborhood Context of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Arrest.” Demography 45(1): 55-77.

Kirk, David S. 2006. “Examining the Divergence across Self-Report and Official Data Sources on Inferences about the Adolescent Life-Course of Crime.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 22(2): 107-129.

Papachristos, Andrew V., and David S. Kirk. 2006. “Neighborhood Effects on Street Gang Behavior.” Pp. 63-84 in James F. Short Jr. and Lorine A. Hughes (eds.), Studying Youth Gangs. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Restore Rundberg

Restore Rundberg is a neighborhood revitalization initiative in North Austin. This work is funded by a $1 million Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Byrne program is part of President Obama's Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. One component of Restore Rundberg is innovation in evidence-based law enforcement strategies and crime prevention in the Rundberg community.

David Kirk is a research partner to the Restore Rundberg initiative. On this site, Kirk will post research related products from the initiative. Click on the document titles below for more information.

Crime Prevention Research Questions

UT Law Community Development Clinic Research Report: "Addressing Problem Properties: Legal and Policy Tools for a Safer Rundberg"

National Institute of Justice: Five Principles of Law Enforcement