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Kinney, David

FACULTY

Biography

Dr. David A. Kinney is Professor of Sociology at the CMU School of Politics, Society, Justice & Public Service.  He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Kinney then received a Post-Doctoral Fellowship co-sponsored by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University and studied promising programs in urban schools for four years.  To continue this research be became a Research and Development specialist for the U.S. Department of Education for three years and worked with students in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Camden, NJ. to include their voices in the development of progressive school reform designed to reduce drop-out rates.  At CMU Professor Kinney founded the Youth Studies Program, the only program of its kind in the United States and has developed and implemented mentoring programs in local middle and high schools for youth from diverse backgrounds who face adversity.  He also served as a Faculty Affiliate in the Center of Ethnography of Everyday Life at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for four years.  Professor Kinney regularly teaches Youth, Deviance & Institutions (SOC 215), Sociology of Education (SOC 311), Social Research Methods (SOC 350), and the Capstone Experience in Youth Studies (SOC 530).  Dr. Kinney has served as the Series Editor of the international research publication Sociological Studies of Children and Youth. He has also been elected to and served on the American Sociological Association Councils of Sociology of Education and Children and Youth.  In addition, he served as President of the Michigan Sociological Association. Professor Kinney’s research has been published in the ASA journal Sociology Education, American Behavioral Scientist, Youth & Society, Handbook of Symbolic Interaction, among others.  Professor Kinney’s dedication to teaching and mentoring CMU students has been recognized with the 2016 College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2020 University Excellence in Teaching Award, and the 2024 University Student Mentorship Award.

Dr. Kinney is the advisor of the student organization, For Michigan at CMU.

More about David Kinney

Herman-Kinney, Nancy J. & David A. Kinney. 2013. "Sober as Deviant: The stigma of sobriety and how some college students 'stay dry' on a 'wet' campus. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 42: 64-103.

Kinney, David A. & Loretta E. Bass. 2011 (Volume 14). Sociological Studies of Children and Youth: The Well-Being, Peer Cultures and Rights of Children. Emerald Publishing Group, Inc., United Kingdom.

Hofferth, Sandra L., David A. Kinney & Dunn, Janet S. 2009. "The 'Hurried Child:' Myth vs. Reality." Chapter 13 in In Life Balance: Multidisciplinary research and theories. Edited by K. Matuska, C. Christiansen, and H. Polatajko (Edit Bethesda, Md: AOTA Press: Bethesda, MD and Slack, Inc.: Thorofare, NJ.

 Kinney, David A. 2007. "Peer Groups and Peer Culture." Pp. 307-317 in The Praeger Handbook of American High Schools, Volume 2. Kathryn M. Borman, Spencer E. Cahill, and Bridget a Cotner, (Eds.). London: Praeger.

Rosier, Katherine Brown and David A. Kinney. 2005. "Historical and Contemporary Pressures on Children's Freedom. Pp. 1-20 in David A. Kinney and Katherine Brown Rosier (Series Co-Editors), Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Volume 11. Oxford, England: JAI: An Official Imprint of Elsevier.

Dunn, Janet S., Kinney, David A., & Hofferth, Sandra L. 2003. "Parental Ideologies and Children​'s After-School Activities." American Behavioral Scientist. 46(10): 1359-1386.

Kinney, David A., Rosier, Katherine Brown, and Harger, Brent D. 2003. "Education." Pp. 575-599 in Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism. Larry T. Reynolds and Nancy J. Herman (Eds.). Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press: A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Kinney, David A. 1999. "From 'Headbangers' to 'Hippies:' Delineating Adolescents' Active Attempts to Form an Alternative Peer Culture." Pp. 21-36 in The Role of Peer Group St​ability and Change in Adolescent Social Identity. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. Number 84. J. McLellan & M.J. Pugh (Eds.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Eder, Donna and Kinney, David A. 1995. "The Effect of Middle School Extracurricular Activities on Adolescents' Popularity and Peer Status." Youth and Society (26(3): 298-324.

Kinney, David A. 1993. "From 'Nerds' to 'Normals': The Recovery of Identity among Adolescents from Middle School to High School." Sociology of Education 66 (January): 21-40.

Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington, 1990

M.A., Bowling Green State University, 1984

B.A., Bowling Green State University, 1982

Childhood and Adolescent Socialization

Education

Youth Culture

Identity

Race and Ethnicity

Courses Taught

SOC 100 Introductory Sociology

SOC 215 Youth, Deviance, and Institutions

SOC 311 Sociology of Education

SOC 350 Social Research Methodologies

SOC 530 Capstone Experience in Youth Studies