Epidemiological Criminology

Welcome to The Virtual Center for Epidemiological Criminology (VCEC).  The site is still being developed so bear with us!  Basically what Epidemiological Criminology or "EpiCrim", is trying to achieve is integration between public health and criminal justice.  Most, if not all, of the problems facing society can be subsumed under these domains.  Explicit and reciprocal linkages between the two holds great promise for societal problem solving.  The VCEC seeks to provide funding and research opportunities for young faculty and students who are interested in helping solve societal problems.  Epidemiological Criminology has already garnered considerable academic and policy interest.  Please browse the website and make any suggestions for improvement.  Brandon Ferweda at UCF is responsible for maintaining the site. 

There is an increasing overlap and blurring of distinctions between public health and criminal justice.  Many other academic units such as sociology and social work share these commonalities as well.  While integration between all the social sciences is possible, probable and inevitable, for now we are focusing on criminal justice and public health.  Each discipline works with marginalized populations; people at high risk to multiple dangers including drug use, health problems and incarceration.  Numerous research reports and funding trends document this merging. However, explicit theoretical and methodological linkages between the two have been rare. Through the VCEC we are helping with the development of a new paradigm that links methods, and statistical models of public health, to that of their criminal justice counterpart. We further link epidemiological analogies, theories and models, to that of their criminological equivalent. In this website we outline the commonalties and distinctions, followed by policy examples that integrate the disciplinary similarities.   We have several exciting projects and opportunities – one on AIDS/HIV and another dealing with human trafficking, each at UCF.  We welcome your input and suggestions!