Kyle Treiber

Kyle Treiber is a University Professor in Neurocriminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, with a focus on integrating psychological, neuroscientific, and criminological theories to explain criminal behavior. She serves as Deputy Director of the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+) and has developed its neurocognitive dimensions and theoretical foundation, Situational Action Theory (SAT).

• Education: BS in Psychology (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001, Phi Beta Kappa), MPhil (2003), and PhD (2008) in Criminology (University of Cambridge).
• Leadership: Director of Criminological Research Programmes (2016–2019), Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Criminology, and member of the European Society of Criminology Executive Board.

Her research examines how neurocognitive machinery (e.g., prefrontal brain functioning, self-control) and social environments interact to shape crime propensities. She specializes in multi-method longitudinal studies, dual process models of decision-making, and cross-comparative research grounded in SAT. Key themes include:

• Neurocognitive and moral decision-making in criminal behavior
• Gene-environment interactions in crime causation
• Space-time budgets and criminogenic environments
• Policy implications of integrated biosocial frameworks

Recent publications highlight SAT’s application to diverse contexts like corruption, intimate partner abuse during the pandemic, and gender gaps in juvenile crime. She emphasizes refining theoretical models through empirical testing and advancing analytical criminology.

• Awards: Lopez-Rey Graduate Prize (2008), Nigel Walker Prize (2008).

Dr. Treiber contributes to teaching programs in criminological theory, research methods, and neurocriminology. She leads the Centre for Analytic Criminology and collaborates on international comparative studies of crime causation.