ASA NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sociologists Available to Discuss Orlando Nightclub Massacre

Newswise — WASHINGTON, DC, June 13, 2016 — The American Sociological Association (ASA) has sociologists available to discuss the Orlando nightclub massacre from a variety of perspectives.

Colin Beck is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Pomona College. He is an expert in radical movements and forms of political violence, such as revolution and terrorism. Beck has examined cases as diverse as radical environmental activism, political Islam, 18th century Enlightenment revolutions, and the Arab Spring. His work includes the 2015 book, Radicals, Revolutionaries, and Terrorists, and the study, “Who Gets Designated a Terrorist and Why?,” in Social Forces.

Jennifer Carlson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. Much of her research has focused on gun politics and gun culture. She authored the 2015 book, Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline, which is the first book to provide an in-depth examination of gun carriers. She is currently working on a project that compares gun law enforcement in California versus Michigan.

Long Doan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. Broadly, he is interested in how various social psychological processes motivate behavior and explain patterns of inequality. Doan’s published works include a 2014 American Sociological Review study, “Formal Rights and Informal Privileges for Same-Sex Couples: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment,” which indicated that heterosexuals have predominately egalitarian views on legal benefits for — but not public displays of affection (PDA) by — same-sex couples. He also co-authored a study, “The Power of Love: The Role of Emotional Attributions and Standards in Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Lesbian and Gay Couples,” in Social Forces.

Adam Lankford is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama. His research interests include mass shootings, social deviance, criminology, terrorism, and counterterrorism. Lankford’s published works include “A Comparative Analysis of Suicide Terrorists and Rampage, Workplace, and School Shooters in the United States from 1990-2010” in Homicide Studies and “Mass Shooters in the USA, 1966–2010: Differences Between Attackers Who Live and Die” in Justice Quarterly. He also authored the paper, “Mass Shooters, Firearms, and Social Strains: A Global Analysis of an Exceptionally American Problem,” which he presented at the 2015 ASA Annual Meeting.

Doug Meyer is a sociologist and a Lecturer of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on violence against LGBT people and the influence of race, class, and gender on sexual-orientation based discrimination. Meyer’s published works include “Resisting Hate Crime Discourse: Queer and Intersectional Challenges to Neoliberal Hate Crime Laws” in Critical Criminology. He is also the author of the book, Violence Against Queer People: Race, Class, Gender, and the Persistence of Anti-LGBT Discrimination, which examines the different forms of anti-LGBT violence and posits that present media coverage oversimplifies this violence by focusing largely on white, middle class victims.

Brian Powell is the James H. Rudy Professor in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. A past Vice President of the ASA, Powell is the lead author of the 2010 book, Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definitions of Family, which explores Americans’ public opinion regarding same-sex families and same-sex marriage. He is also an author of studies, including “Public Opinion, the Courts, and Same-Sex Marriage: Four Lessons Learned” and “Measurement, Methods, and Divergent Patterns: Reassessing the Effects of Same-Sex Parents.”

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About the American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.