Director
Phone: (518) 456-6323 ext. 308
rworden@finninstitute.org
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 conducts basic research on the forces that shape police decision-making and behavior, and applied research on criminal justice strategies, programs, and reforms. His scholarship has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Criminology, Law & Society Review, and other academic journals, and it has been funded by the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and other sponsors. He is the coauthor (with Sarah J. McLean) of Mirage of Police Reform, published by the University of California Press in 2017. In 2000, Dr. Worden was appointed to serve on the National Research Council’s Committee to Review Research on Police Policies and Practices, whose report, Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence, was published by the National Academies Press in 2004. 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. In 2018, Dr. Worden was recognized by the Police Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences with the O.W. Wilson Award for outstanding contributions to police education, research, and practice.
Selected Publications
Robin S. Engel, Robert E. Worden, Nicholas Corsaro, Hannah D. McManus, Danielle L. Reynolds, Hannah Cochran, Gabrielle T. Isaza, and Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas, 2019. The Power to Arrest: Lessons from Research. New York: Springer.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2018. “Discretion and Diversion in Albany’s LEAD Program,” Criminal Justice Policy Review 29 (6-7): 585-610.
Worden, Robert E., Heidi S. Bonner and Sarah J. McLean, 2018. “Procedural Justice and Citizen Review of Complaints against the Police: Structure, Outcomes, and Complainants’ Subjective Experiences,” Police Quarterly 21 (1): 77-108.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2018. “Measuring, Managing, and Enhancing Procedural Justice in Policing: Promise and Pitfalls,” Criminal Justice Policy Review 29 (2): 149-171.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2018. “Reflections on CompStat in the Community Era of Policing,” in Susan Shah, Jim Burch, and S. Rebecca Neusteter (eds.), Leveraging CompStat to Include Community Measures in Police Performance Management, Perspectives from the Field (New York: Vera Institute of Justice).
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2017. Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2017. “Research on Police Legitimacy: The State of the Art,” Policing: An International Journal 40 (3): 480-513.
Wheeler, Andrew P., Robert E. Worden, and Sarah J. McLean, 2016. “Replicating Group-Based Trajectory Models of Crime at Micro-Places in Albany, NY,” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 32: 589-612.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2016. “Prediction and Intervention to Prevent Police Misconduct,” in Ronald Burke (ed.), Stress in Policing: Sources, Consequences and Interventions. London: Routledge.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2015. “Police Legitimacy, Procedural Justice, and the Exercise of Police Authority,” Research in Brief, The Police Chief 82 (November, 2015): 14-16.
Worden, Robert E., Sarah J. McLean and Heidi S. Bonner, 2015. “You Can Observe a Lot by Watching: Contributions of Systematic Social Observation to Our Understanding of Police” in Roger G. Dunham and Geoffrey P. Alpert, eds., Critical Issues in Policing: Contemporary Readings. 7th ed.; Long Grove, IL: Waveland.
Worden, Robert E., Sarah J. McLean and Heidi S. Bonner, 2014. “Research Partners in Criminal Justice: Notes from Syracuse,” Criminal Justice Studies 27 (3): 278-293.
Worden, Robert E., Christopher J. Harris, and Sarah J. McLean, 2014. “Risk Assessment and Risk Management in Policing,” Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 37 (2): 239-258.
Harris, Christopher J., and Robert E. Worden, 2014. “The Effect of Sanctions on Police Misconduct,” Crime & Delinquency 60 (8): 1258-1288.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2014. “Police Discretion in Law Enforcement,” in Gerben Jan Nicholaas Bruinsma and David Lee Weisburd, eds., Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
McCluskey, John D., Robert E. Worden, and Sarah J. McLean, 2014. “Police Legitimacy and Police Encounters,” in Gerben Jan Nicholaas Bruinsma and David Lee Weisburd, eds., Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2014. “Systematic Social Observation of the Police,” in Michael Reisig and Robert Kane, eds., Oxford Handbook on Police and Policing. New York: Oxford University Press.
McLean, Sarah J., Robert E. Worden, and MoonSun Kim, 2013. “Here’s Looking at You: An Evaluation of Public CCTV Cameras and Their Effects on Crime and Disorder,” Criminal Justice Review 38: 303-334.
Worden, Robert E., MoonSun Kim, Christopher J. Harris, Mary Anne Pratte, Shelagh Dorn, and Shelley S. Hyland, 2013. “Intervention with Problem Officers: An Outcome Evaluation of an EIS Intervention,” Criminal Justice and Behavior 40 (April): 410-438.
Worden, Robert E., Sarah J. McLean and Andrew P. Wheeler, 2012. “Testing for Racial Profiling with the Veil-of-Darkness Method,” Police Quarterly 15 (March): 92-111.
McLean, Sarah J., Robert E. Worden, MoonSun Kim, Tara L. Garmley, and Heidi S. Bonner, 2010. “Operation Safe Corridor: An Outcome Evaluation,” Criminal Justice Policy Review 21 (September): 363-380.
Worden, Robert E., and Sarah J. McLean, 2009. DDACTS in Theory and Practice. Albany: John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, Inc. (Also included as an appendix in Jack Stuster, Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety: Case Studies of Six Programs, Report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [Santa Barbara: Anacapa Sciences, Inc., 2010].)
Engel, Robin Shepard, and Robert E. Worden, 2003. “Police Officers’ Attitudes, Behavior, and Supervisory Influences: An Analysis of Problem-solving,” Criminology 41 (1): 131-166.
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 (3): 575-605.
Engel, Robin Shepard, James J. Sobol, and Robert E. Worden, 2000. “Further Exploration of the Demeanor Hypothesis: The Interaction Effects of Suspects’ Characteristics and Demeanor on Police Behavior,” Justice Quarterly 17 (2): 235-258.
Bayley, David H., and Robert E. Worden, 1998. “Police Overtime: An Examination of Key Issues.” Research in Brief. Washington: National Institute of Justice, May.
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.
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.
Worden, Robert E., Robin L. Shepard, and Stephen D. Mastrofski, 1996. “On the Meaning and Measurement of Suspects’ Demeanor toward the Police: A Comment on ‘Demeanor and Arrest’,” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 33 (3): 324-332.
Frank, James, Steven G. Brandl, Robert E. Worden, and Timothy S. Bynum, 1996. “Citizen Involvement in the Coproduction of Police Outputs,” Journal of Crime and Justice 19 (2): 1-30.
Worden, Robert E., and Robin L. Shepard, 1996. “Demeanor, Crime, and Police Behavior: A Reexamination of the Police Services Study Data,” Criminology 34 (1): 83-105.
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.
A slightly abridged version appears in William A. Geller and Hans Toch, eds., Police Violence. New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press, 1996.
Mastrofski, Stephen D., Robert E. Worden, and Jeffrey B. Snipes, 1995. “Law Enforcement in a Time of Community Policing,” Criminology 33 (4): 539-563.
Worden, Robert E., 1995. “Police Officers’ Belief Systems: A Framework for Analysis,” American Journal of Police 14 (1): 49-81.
Brandl, Steven G., James Frank, Robert E. Worden, and Timothy S. Bynum, 1994. “Global and Specific Attitudes toward the Police: Disentangling the Relationship,” Justice Quarterly 11 (1): 119-134.
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, CA.: Sage.
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., 1990. “A Badge and a Baccalaureate: Policies, Hypotheses, and Further Evidence,” Justice Quarterly 7 (3): 565-592.
Worden, Robert E., and Steven G. Brandl, 1990. “Protocol Analysis of Police Decision Making: Toward a Theory of Police Behavior,” American Journal of Criminal Justice 14 (2): 297-318.
Worden, Robert E., 1989. “Situational and Attitudinal Explanations of Police Behavior: A Theoretical Reappraisal and Empirical Assessment,” Law & Society Review 23 (4): 667-711.
Whitaker, Gordon P., Charles David Phillips, Peter J. Haas, and Robert E. Worden, 1985. “Aggressive Policing and the Deterrence of Crime,” Law & Policy 7 (3): 395‑416.
Worden, Robert E., and Alissa A. Pollitz, 1984. “Police Arrests in Domestic Disturbances: A Further Look,” Law & Society Review 18 (1): 105‑119.