Dr. Timothy Dickinson

Assistant Professor

Education

  • Ph.D., Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis 2015
  • M.A., Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis 2011
  • B.S., Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis 2006

Research Areas

  • Offender decision-making
  • Offender identity work

Bio

Timothy Dickinson’s work focuses on exploring how various elements influence the decisions, actions, and identities of persons involved in criminal activity. His current research examines the forces that shape predatory offenders and illicit drug sellers’ definitions of money and time and, in turn, how these definitions play into their daily lives and crimes. His current research also explores how online romance fraudsters’ guide their interactions with victims while attempting to carry out their crimes.

Selected Publications

Dickinson, Timothy, Volkan Topalli, and Richard Wright. (2023). “The money cultures of active armed robbers.” British Journal of Sociology. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.13014

Dickinson, Timothy, Fangzhou Wang, and David Maimon. (2023). “What Money Can Do: Examining the Effects of Rewards on Online Romance Fraudsters’ Deceptive Strategies.” Deviant Behavior. In press.

DiPietro, Stephanie, and Timothy Dickinson. (2021). “God is real”: Narratives of religiously motivated desistance. Criminology, 59: 645-670.

Dickinson, Timothy, and Scott Jacques. (2020). Drug control policy, normalization, and symbolic boundaries in Amsterdam’s coffeeshops. British Journal of Criminology 61: 22-40.

Topalli, Volkan, Timothy Dickinson, and Scott Jacques. (2020). Learning from criminals: Active offender research for criminology. Annual Review of Criminology 3: 189-215.

Dickinson, Timothy. (2019). Identity, situational elements, and responses to drug debt. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 57: 66-104.

Dickinson, Timothy, and Scott Jacques. (2019). Drug sellers’ neutralizations of guiltless drug sales and avoidance of “drug dealer” identities. International Journal of Drug Policy 73:16-23.

Dickinson, Timothy, and Richard Wright. (2017). The funny side of drug dealing: Risk, humor, and narrative identity. Criminology 55:691-720.

Dickinson, Timothy. (2017). Non-violent threats, promises, and deterrence among drug dealers. International Journal of Drug Policy 42:7-14.

Wright, Richard, Erdal Tekin, Volkan Topalli, Chandler McClellan, Timothy Dickinson, and Richard Rosenfeld. (2017). Less cash, less crime: Evidence from the Electronic Benefit Transfer Program. Journal of Law and Economics 60:361-383.

Dickinson, Timothy, and Richard Wright. (2015). Gossip, decision-making, and deterrence in drug markets.  British Journal of Criminology 55:1263-1281.