Distinguished Professor; Director of CJ Honors Program
(205) 934-2069
UBOB 315
Research Interests: Narrative criminology, identity and crime, qualitative research methods, visual criminology
Office Hours: T/W/TH 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.; or by appointment
Education:
- PhD, University of Tennessee
- MA, Sociology, University of Tennessee
- BS, Sociology and Psychology, University of Southwestern Louisiana
Heith Copes is a Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Tennessee in 2001. He uses qualitative methods and narrative theory to examine drug use and crime. He has published over 100 refereed journal articles in journals such as British Journal of Criminology, Criminology, European Journal of Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Social Problems. He has been a visiting scholar and speaker at universities across the United States and Europe, including the University of Queensland, University of South Wales, Aalborg University, University of Oslo, and the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research at Aarhus University. He has recently been invited to be a visiting scholar at the University of Malmo and at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. He received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Southern Criminal Justice Association. He also received the Ireland Award for Scholarly Distinction from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the past president of the Southern Criminal Justice Associations. He is currently the Co-Editor of the journal Deviant Behavior.
Download Curriculum Vitae Opens a PDF.Scholars Profile Opens an external link.
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Recent Courses
- Criminology
- Patterns in Crime
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Select Publications
- Copes, Heith, Fiona Brookman, Blake Beaton and Jared Ragland. 2022. “Sex, Drugs, and Coercive Control: Gendered Narratives of Methamphetamine Use, Relationships, and Violence.” Criminology 60(1): 187-218.
- Deitzer, Jessica, Lindsay Leban, Heith Copes, and Sam Wilcox. 2022. “Criminal Self-Efficacy and Perceptions of Risk and Reward Among Women Methamphetamine Manufacturers.” Justice Quarterly 39(4): 847-870. doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2021.1901965
- Ericson, Jacob, Andy Hochstetler, and Heith Copes. 2021. “Meth Cooking as a Job: Identity and Dirty Work” Justice Quarterly 28: 849-869.
- Copes, Heith, Lindsay Leban, and Jared Ragland. 2021. “Changing Narratives of Intimate Partner Violence: A Longitudinal Photo-Ethnography.” Conflict and Society 7: 123-142.
- Copes, Heith, and Andy Hochstetler. 2021. “The Social Organization of Methamphetamine Manufacturing: Roles, Identities and Persistence.” Journal of Criminal Justice 73.
- Sandberg, Sveinung, Heith Copes, and Willy Pedersen. 2019. “When Peaceful People Fight: Beyond Neutralization and Subcultural Theory.” British Journal of Criminology 59: 1309-1327.
- Deitzer, Jessica, Lindsay Leban, and Heith Copes. 2019. “The Times Have Changed, the Dope Has Changed: Women’s Cooking Roles and Gender Performances in Shake Methamphetamine Markets.” Criminology 57: 268-288.
- Webb, Meg, Heith Copes, and Peter Hendricks. 2019. “Narrative Identity, Rationality, and Microdosing Classic Psychedelics.” International Journal of Drug Policy 70: 33-39.
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Academic Distinctions & Professional Memberships
- Co-Editor, Deviant Behavior
- 2022-2023 ACJS Donald MacNamara Award for “Meth Cooking as a Job: Identity and Dirty Work.” Awarded for outstanding article published in ACJS journals.
- Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2017.
- Visiting/Guest Professor at Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security, and Law; University of Queensland; University of South Wales; University of Oslo; Aalborg University; Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research (Aarhus University).