Department of Sociology and Criminology

Professional Bio

Dr. Osgood came to Penn State in 1996 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2017. He is especially proud of the 16 Ph.D. students whose dissertations he supervised here, who have gone on to make valuable contributions to our field.

Before joining our department, he was a faculty member in the Sociology Department at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1987-1996), and a researcher at Boys Town, NE (1986-1987), the University of Michigan's Institute of Social Research (1980-1986), and the Behavioral Research Institute in Boulder, CO (1977-1980).

Research Interests

Dr. Osgood's research centers on delinquency and other problem behaviors during adolescence and early adulthood. His published research addresses the contribution of routine activities to offending, friendship networks, peer influence, sources of age differences, criminal careers, and the generality of deviance.  He also conducted research on a variety of programs for juvenile offenders (including prevention, diversion, and residential programs), and he has written about statistical issues for the analysis of deviant behaviors, of longitudinal data, and of program evaluations.

Professional Awards and Achievements

• Edwin H. Sutherland Award, the top scholarly award of the American Society of Criminology, 2022
• Faculty Scholar Medal in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Penn State University, 2009
• Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award, Penn State University, 2007
• Award for Distinction in the Social Sciences, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State University, 2006
• Fellow, American Society of Criminology, 2005
• Member, Committee on the Science of Adolescence, National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, 2008 - 2010
• Member, MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, 1999 - 2010
• Member, National Consortium on Violence Research (NCOVR), 1997 – 2008

Editorial Boards

• Criminology, 1993, 1997 - 2005, Associate Editor 2005 - 2010, Lead Editor 2011 - 2017
• Criminology and Public Policy, 2007 - 2013
• Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 1997 - 2011
• Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2000 - 2005, 2007 - 2011
• American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2010 - 2014
• Criminal Justice and Behavior, 1997 - 2000
• Journal of Social Issues, 1991 - 1995

Selected Publications

• Osgood, D. Wayne, Daniel T. Ragan, Jenna L. Dole, and Derek A. Kreager. In Press, 2022. Similarity of Friends Versus Nonfriends in Adolescence: Developmental Patterns and Ecological Influences. Developmental Psychology.
• Ragan, Daniel T., D. Wayne Osgood, Nayan Ramirez, James Moody, and Scott D. Gest. 2022. A Comparison of Peer Influence Estimates from SIENA Stochastic Actor-Based Models and from Conventional Regression Approaches. Sociological Methods and Research 51(1): 357-395.
• Felson, Richard B., D. Wayne Osgood, and Patrick Cundiff. 2019. Life in the Fast Lane: Drugs, Hedonistic Lifestyles, and Economic Crime. Crime and Delinquency 65(9): 1292-1318.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, Mark E. Feinberg, and Daniel T. Ragan. 2015. “Social Networks and the Diffusion of Adolescent Problem Behavior: Reliable Estimates of Selection and Influence from 6th through 9th Grade.” Prevention Science 16(6): 832-843.
• Ragan, Daniel T., D. Wayne Osgood, and Mark E. Feinberg. 2014. “Friends as a Bridge to Parental Influence: Implications for Adolescent Alcohol Use.”  Social Forces 92(3): 1061-1085.
• Rulison, Kelly L., Derek A. Kreager, and D. Wayne Osgood. 2014. "Delinquency and peer acceptance in adolescence: A within-person test of Moffitt’s hypotheses." Developmental Psychology 50(11): 2437-2448.

• Osgood, D. Wayne, Daniel T. Ragan, Lacey Wallace, Scott D. Gest, Mark E. Feinberg, and James Moody. 2013.  “Peers and the Emergence of Alcohol Use: Influence and Selection Processes in Adolescent Friendship Networks.” Journal of Research on Adolescence 23: 500-512.

• Osgood, D. Wayne. 2010. “Statistical Models of Life Events and Criminal Behavior.”  In The Handbook of Quantitative Criminology, Alex R. Piquero and David Weisburd Eds, p. 375-396.  New York: Springer.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, and Christopher Schreck. 2007.  “A New Method for Studying the Extent, Stability, and Predictors of Individual Specialization in Violence.”  Criminology 45(2): 273-312.
• Osgood, D. Wayne,  E. Michael  Foster, Constance Flanagan, and Gretchen R. Ruth (Eds.). 2005.  On Your Own Without a Net: The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Haynie, Dana L., and D. Wayne Osgood. 2005.  “Reconsidering Peers and Delinquency: How Do Peers Matter?”  Social Forces 84(2): 1109-1130.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, and Amy L. Anderson. 2004.  “Unstructured Socializing and Rates of Delinquency.”  Criminology 42(3): 519-549.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, Barbara J. McMorris, and Maria T. Potenza. 2002.  “Analyzing Multiple-item Measures of Crime and Deviance I: Item Response Theory Scaling.”  Journal of Quantitative Criminology 18(3): 267-296.
• Osgood, D. Wayne. 2000.  “Poisson-Based Regression Analysis of Aggregate Crime Rates.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 16(1): 21-43.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, and Jeff M. Chambers. 2000.  “Social Disorganization Outside the Metropolis: An Analysis of Rural Youth Violence.” Criminology 38(1): 81-115.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, Janet K. Wilson, Jerald G. Bachman, Patrick M. O'Malley, and Lloyd D. Johnston.  1996.  "Routine Activities and Individual Deviant Behavior."  American Sociological Review 61: 635-655.
• Horney, Julie, D. Wayne Osgood, and Ineke Haen Marshall. 1995.  "Criminal Careers in the Short-Term: Intra-Individual Variability in Crime and Its Relation to Local Life Circumstances."  American Sociological Review 60:655-73.
• Osgood, D. Wayne, Lloyd D. Johnston, Patrick M. O'Malley, and Jerald G. Bachman. 1988.  "The Generality of Deviance in Late Adolescence and Early Adulthood."  American Sociological Review 53(1):81-93.
• Rowe, David C., and D. Wayne Osgood. 1984.  "Heredity and Sociological Theories of Delinquency: A Reconsideration."  American Sociological Review 49(4):526-540.