Joseph O. Baker Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Sociology
Sociology
Contact:
Introduction to Sociology
Social Statistics
Research Methods
Sociology of Religion
Deviance and Social Control
Criminology
My general research interests are in the sociologies of religion, deviance, and culture, particularly patterns of religiosity and secularity, "folk" beliefs, public views of science, paranormal subcultures, penology, criminological theory, and theories of religion. I am currently working on a book outlining and testing a parsimonious yet powerfully predictive theory of deviance "management."
I am also a senior research associate for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Articles
Gendering (Non)Religion: Politics, Education, and Gender Gaps in Secularity in the United States. Social Forces 94(4):1623-45. [with Andrew L. Whitehead]
Hell to Pay: Religion and Punitive Ideology among the American Public. Punishment & Society 18(2):151-76. [with Alexis Booth]
Desecration, Moral Boundaries and the Movement of Law: The Case of Westboro Baptist Church. Deviant Behavior 36(1): 42-67. [with Christopher D. Bader and Kittye Hirsch]
Structural and Cultural Sources of Community in American Congregations. Social Science Research 45: 1-17. [with Samuel Stroope]
Public Perceptions of Incompatibility between "Science and Religion." Public Understanding of Science 21(3): 340-54.
Social Sources of the Spirit: Connecting Rational Choice and Interactive Ritual Theories in the Study of Religion. Sociology of Religion 71(4): 432-56.
The Expression of Low Self-Control as Problematic Drinking in Adolescents: An Integrated Control Perspective. Journal of Criminal Justice 38(3): 237-44.
