Biography
Dr. Timothy Lauger is a native of Northern Wisconsin who attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received his doctorate in criminal justice from Indiana University in 2010 after engaging in an 18-month ethnographic study of active gang members in Indianapolis. Rutgers University Press published his book that resulted from that study, Real Gangstas: Legitimacy, Reputation, and Violence in the Intergang Environment, in September of 2012.
Dr. Lauger has also published on street culture among gang youth. He received the James L. Maddex, Jr., Criminal Justice Review, paper of the year award in 2014 for his article entitled Violent Stories Personal Narratives, Street Socialization, and the Negotiation of Street Culture Among Street-Oriented Youth. He is currently working on multiple manuscripts that explore the online presence of gang member’s and their use of underground rap to communicate elements of local culture.
Dr. Lauger is also working with NU colleague Dr. Craig Rivera to better understand patterns of violence in Niagara Falls and to assist local agencies in implementing focused deterrence/lever pulling violence reduction strategies. They are funded under the New York Division of Criminal Justice Service’s GIVE initiative and are partnering with Niagara County District Attorney’s office. They are also working closely with the Niagara Falls Police Department, Niagara County Probation, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department. This endeavor builds off an earlier project that assesses the extent and nature of gang activity in Niagara Falls.
Over the last few years, Dr. Lauger has taught several criminal justice courses at NU, including Introduction to Criminal Justice, Urban Crime Problems, Theories of Street Crime, and Criminal Justice Management.