Mateus R. Santos

Mateus R. Santos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida, within the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. His research focuses on comparative criminology, crime policy, reentry, and quantitative methods.

Education

• Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland (USA)
• M.A. in Sociology, Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)
• B.A. in Social Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Research Interests

• Examines global homicide trends and their sociodemographic drivers
• Investigates institutional correlates of crime and justice
• Develops quantitative frameworks for comparative criminology
• Analyzes reentry challenges and employment barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals
• Studies workplace norms and antisemitism in post-geopolitical conflict contexts
• Compares international crime data sources (UNODC vs. WHO)

Article Trends

• Highly focused on cross-national homicide analysis
• Integrates age-period-cohort modeling with crime data
• Explores intersections between economic inequality, migration, and crime
• Applies rational choice theory to moral decision-making in offending
• Examines policing and prison reform challenges
• Investigates public health-crime linkages (opioid mortality, healthcare access)

Laboratory

• Co-Founder of the Crime Research Etiology and Treatment Evaluation (CREATE) Lab with Dr. Chae Jaynes