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Heith Copes

Heith Copes

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ADDRESS
University Boulevard Office Building - Rm. 315 1201 University Blvd. Birmingham, AL 35294-4562
Website
https://www.uab.edu/cas/criminaljustice/people/faculty-directory/heith-copes
Phone
(205) 934-2069

Heith Copes

Distinguished Professor, J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr. Heith Copes received his doctoral degree from the University of Tennessee in 2001.  His dissertation, Finding a Ride:  Decision-Making among Auto Thieves, was directed by Dr. Neal Shover.  He joined the faculty in the Department of Justice Sciences (now the Department of Criminal Justice) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2001 where he now serves as Distinguished Professor.  He has a secondary appointment in the Department of Sociology.  In 2022 he received the Donal MacNamara Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences for his paper, “Meth Cooking as a Job:  Identity and Dirty Work” (co-authored with Jacob Ericson and Andy Hochstetler) which appeared in Justice Quarterly in 2021.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph.D. 2001 University of Tennessee

Interest Area

Criminal decision-making, narrative sense making, qualitative methods

Honors

Research

  • 2022-2023 ACJS Donal MacNamara Award for “Meth Cooking as a Job: Identity and Dirty Work.” Awarded for outstanding article published in ACJS journals.
  • Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2017.
  • 2017 Shortlist for Scientific Award from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction for Willy Pedersen, Sveinung Sandberg, and Heith Copes. (2016), Destruction, fascination and illness: risk perceptions and uses of heroin and opiate maintenance treatment drugs. Health, Risk & Society 19(1-2): 74–79.
  • 2012 Finalist for the James L. Maddex, Jr. Paper of the Year Award, for Morris, Robert and Heith Copes. “Exploring the Temporal Dynamics of the Neutralization/Delinquency Relationship.” Criminal Justice Review 37:442-460.
  • 2009 Winner of the James L. Maddex, Jr. Paper of the Year Award, for Kerley, Kent, Andy Hochstetler and Heith Copes. “Self-Control, Prison Deviance and Victimization.” Criminal Justice Review 34: 553-568.

Teaching

  • Recipient of the 2020 Outstanding Mentor Award, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
  • Recipient of the 2014 Outstanding Educator Award, Southern Criminal Justice Association.
  • Recipient of the 2011 Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
  • Recipient of the 2009 President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
  • Recipient of the 2005 President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Publications

BOOK

  • Copes, Heith, and Lynne Vieraitis. Identity Thieves: Motives and Methods. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2012.

EDITED COLLECTIONS

  • Copes, Heith and Mark Pogrebin. Voices from Criminal Justice: Insider Perspectives-Outsider Experiences (2nd Edition). Routledge, 2017.
  • Copes, Heith, and J. Mitchell Miller (Eds). Routledge Handbook of Qualitative Criminology. London: Routledge, 2015.
  • Forsyth, Craig and Copes, Heith. Encyclopedia of Social Deviance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2014.
  • Copes, Heith (Ed.). Advancing Qualitative Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Routledge, 2012.
  • Copes, Heith and Mark Pogrebin. Voices from Criminal Justice: Thinking and Reflecting on the System. Routledge, 2012.
  • Copes, Heith, and Volkan Topalli (Eds.), Criminological Theory: Readings and Retrospectives. McGraw Hill, 2010.