James Densley

James Densley

James Densley (born April 13, 1982) is a British-American sociologist and Professor of Criminal Justice at Metropolitan State University. He is best known as co-founder of The Violence Project and as co-author of the bestselling book, The Violence Project: How To Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic. Densley has also published extensively on street gang issues and has been described as "among the most accomplished rising leaders of modern gang research in criminology." He was one of the top 250 most cited criminologists in the world in 2019.Densley is known for his ethnography of gang life in London, England, and his applications of economic signalling theory to gang membership. Densley's research examines group processes in gangs and compares gangs with other violent collectives such as hate groups and terror groups. He once compared the Islamic State to a “street gang on steroids”. Densley writes about the “glocalisation” of gang culture, cyber violence, and the role of rap music and social media in gang violence.

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