
Christopher Melde, PhD
Associate Professor
- Baker Hall
655 Auditorium Road Room 432
East Lansing, MI 48824 - 517-353-0850
- melde@msu.edu
- Google Scholar
- Curriculum vitae
2007 PhD, University of Missouri - St. Louis
2004 MA, University of Missouri - St. Louis
2001 BA, Loras College
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Biography
Chris Melde is Associate Director, Director of Graduate Studies, and an associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His primary research interests include street gangs, youth violence, adolescent development, individual and community reactions to crime and victimization risk, and program evaluation. He is currently the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on several funded projects, including Bureau of Justice Statistics funded projects on the implementation of city-level victimization surveys in high crime urban areas in the State of Michigan, as well as two National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded projects on school safety in Flint, MI. These projects focus on the role of school safety in the successful transition to high school, the identification of mental health issues in elementary schools, and best practices for developing a positive and safe school climate. He has also worked on an NIJ funded multi-method multi-site study of the impact of gang desistance on adolescent development, a BJA funded evaluation of Lansing, MI’s Neighborhood Stabilization and Youth Violence Initiative, and NIJ funded evaluations of: Project Safe Neighborhoods Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative; the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) school-based program; and the Teens, Crime, and the Community: Community Works school-based program. Dr. Melde was awarded the 2015 Tory J. Caeti Memorial Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Juvenile Justice section, given in recognition of the contribution of emerging scholars to the field of juvenile justice, for his work on gangs and youth violence prevention.
Publications
The Practicalities of Targeted Gang Interventions
Year: 2013 Authors: Melde, C. Journal: Criminology and Public PolicyGangs and Violence: Disentangling the Impact of Gang Membership on the Level and Nature of Offending
Year: 2013 Authors: Melde, C., and Esbensen, F.A. Journal: Journal of Quantitative CriminologyGang Membership as a Turning Point in the Life Course
Year: 2011 Authors: Melde, C., and Esbensen, F.A. Journal: CriminologyLifestyle, Rational Choice, and Adolescent Fear: A Test of a Risk Assessment Framework
Year: 2009 Authors: Melde, C. Journal: CriminologyI Got Your Back’: Examining the Protective Function of Gang Membership in Adolescence
Year: 2009 Authors: Melde, C., Taylor, T.J., and Esbensen, F.A. Journal: Criminiology*2010 The William L. Simon/Anderson Publishing Outstanding Paper Award: Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences