David Kirk

David Kirk is a Professor and Department Chair of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the Population Studies Center. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago. Previously, he served on faculties at the University of Oxford, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Maryland.

• Education: Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Chicago
• Previous Appointments: Oxford University, UT Austin, UMD

His research focuses on three core themes: legal cynicism and trust in law enforcement, solutions to criminal recidivism, and gun violence dynamics. A flagship project, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN+), tracks individuals since the 1990s to examine life course trajectories influenced by neighborhoods, families, and criminal justice systems. His book Home Free uses Hurricane Katrina’s displacement as a natural experiment to study prisoner reentry outcomes.

Recent work explores firearm violence disparities, sharing economy impacts on urban crime, and the role of machine learning in social sciences. His analyses consistently highlight structural inequities and policy-driven solutions.

Advising & Grants: Mentor to Ph.D. and Master’s students. Key projects include the Maryland Opportunities through Vouchers Experiment (MOVE) evaluating housing stability’s impact on recidivism.

Labs/Teams: Leads the PHDCN+, a multigenerational study integrating individual life courses with neighborhood context analysis.