Education
PhD Pennsylvania State University (2005, Sociology)
MA Graduate Center/ Queens College, City University of New York (2001, Sociology)
AM University of Chicago (2000, Social Sciences)
BA Hunter College, City University of New York (1998, Sociology)
AAS Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York (1997, Fashion Design)
Bio
Dr. Amy Adamczyk is Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Programs of Doctoral Study in Sociology and Criminal Justice at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. In 2005 she received her PhD. in Sociology from the Pennsylvania State University. She holds MA degrees from the University of Chicago and the Graduate Center/ Queens College, and she completed her BA degree at Hunter College.
Her research focuses on how different contexts (e.g.nations, counties, friendship groups), and personal religious beliefs shape people’s deviant, criminal, and health-related attitudes and behaviors. She recently published a book, Cross-National Public Opinion about Homosexuality, that investigates the factors that shape cross-national attitudes about homosexuality. Her research has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed journals, including the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Justice Quarterly, the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science Research, Social Science Quarterly,Sociological Quarterly, Sociology of Religion, and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
She is the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Book Award from the International Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. With her colleague she received the 2017 Best Paper of the Year Award from the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion. In 2009 John Jay College awarded her the Donald MacNamara Award for Junior Faculty, in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2016 she was the recipient of John Jay College’s Research Excellence Award, and in 2011 she received the John Jay College's Midcareer Award. Her research has been supported with grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. She is also a board member for the LGBT Social Science & Public Policy Center at Hunter College, CUNY.
Scholarly Work
Book
Amy Adamczyk. 2017. Cross-National Public Opinion about Homosexuality: Examining Attitudes across the Globe. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences International Section Outstanding Book Award for 2018
- Reviews: Gary L. Hansens in the American Journal of Sociology, 2018 124(1) Pp. 248-250., Jeremiah J. Garretson in Public Opinion Quarterly 82(3) Pp. 605-607, Tina Fetner in Contemporary Sociology, 2019 48(1) Pp. 34-35, Gowoon Jung in Sociological Inquiry, 2018 88(4) Pp. 752-754, Rosemary
Booth in The Gay and Lesbian Review, 2017 Nov/Dec Pp. 39, and Brigitte Khoury in PsycCRITIQUES, 2017 62(51).
- Summaries of the book’s findings were published in The Conversation (over 76K reads), Newsweek, Salon, PinkNews, Plus Magazine, Huffington Post, and Academic Minute.
Peer-reviewed journal articles
** Indicates a student coauthor during article preparation.
Amy Adamczyk and Yen-Chiao Liao**. 2019 (forthcoming) “Examining Public Opinion about LGBTQ-related Issues in the United States and across Multiple Nations.” Annual Review of Sociology 45.
Jacob Felson, Amy Adamczyk, and Christopher Thomas**. 2019. “How and Why Have Attitudes about Cannabis Legalization Changed so Much?” Social Science Research. 78: 12-27.
- Lead article on findings in The Conversation (120K reads in the first week). Story published by PBS News hour and Marketwatch. Interview with InfoTrak radio show (over 700 stations).
Amy Adamczyk and Margret Valdimarsdottir**. 2018 “Understanding Americans’ Abortion Attitudes: The Role of the Local Religious Context.” Social Science Research 71: 129-144
Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim**, and Maggie Schmuhl**. 2018. “Newspaper Presentations of Homosexuality across Nations: Examining Differences by Religion, Economic Development, and Democracy.” Sociological Perspectives 61: 399-425.
Jacob Felson and Amy Adamczyk. 2018. “Effects of Geography on Mental Health Disparities on Sexual Minorities in New York City.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 47: 1095–1107.
Amy Adamczyk, Joshua.D. Freilich, and Chunrye Kim.** 2017. “Religion and Crime: The Way Forward.” Sociology of Religion. 78: 192-232.
Gary LaFree and Amy Adamczyk. 2017. “Change and Stability in Attitudes toward Terrorism: The Impact of the Boston Marathon Bombings.” Justice Quarterly 34: 459-490.
Yen-hsin Alice Cheng, Fen-Chieh Felice Wu**, and Amy Adamczyk. 2016. “Changing Attitudes toward Homosexuality in Taiwan, 1995-2012.” Chinese Sociological Review 48:317–45.
Christopher Scheitle and Amy Adamczyk. 2016. “Responding to a Call: Religion as a Resource in the Organizational Founding Process.” Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion 13:94-116.
Amy Adamczyk, Kathy Boyd** and Brittany Hayes**. 2016. “Place matters: Contextualizing the roles of Religion and Race for Understanding Americans’ Attitudes about Homosexuality.” Social Science Research 57:1-16.
Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim** and Lauren Paradis**. 2015. “Investigating Differences in How the News Media Views Homosexuality across Nations: An Analysis of the United States, South Africa, and Uganda.” Sociological Forum 30: 1038-1058.
Amy Adamczyk and Yen-hsin Alice Cheng. 2015. “Explaining Attitudes about Homosexuality in Confucian and non-Confucian Nations: Is there a ‘Cultural’ Influence?” Social Science Research.51: 276-289
Joshua.D. Freilich, Amy Adamczyk, Steven M. Chermak, Kathy Boyd** and William S. Parkin. 2015. “Investigating the Applicability of Macro-Level Criminology Theory to Terrorism: A County-Level Analysis.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology. 31: 383-411.
Amy Adamczyk and Gary LaFree. 2015. “Religiosity and Reactions to Terrorism.” Social Science Research. 51: 17-29.
Amy Adamczyk, Jeff Gruenwald, Steven M. Chermak, and Joshua D. Freilich. 2014. “The Relationship between Hate Groups and Far-Right Ideological Violence.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 30: 310-332.
Amy Adamczyk. 2013. “The Effect of Personal Religiosity on Attitudes toward Abortion, Divorce, and Gender Equality: Does Cultural Context Make a Difference?” EurAmerica:A Journal of European and American Studies 43:213-253.
Amy Adamczyk and Brittany Hayes. 2012. “Religion and Sexual Behaviors: Understanding the Influence of Islamic Cultures and Religious Affiliation for Explaining Sex Outside of Marriage.” American Sociological Review 77: 723-746.
Amy Adamczyk. 2012.“Extracurricular Activities and Teens’ Alcohol Use: The Role of Religious and Secular Sponsorship.” Social Science Research 41:412-424.
Amy Adamczyk. 2012.“Understanding Delinquency with Friendship Group Religious Context.” Social Science Quarterly.93:482-505.
Amy Adamczyk. 2012.“Investigating the Role of Religion-Supported Secular Programs for Explaining Initiation into First Sex” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.51:324-342.
Amy Adamczyk and Jacob Felson. 2012. “The Effect of Religion-Supported Programs on Health-Related Behaviors in Adolescence.” Review of Religious Research 54:469-497.
Amy Adamczyk and Meredith Greif. 2011. “Education and Risky Sex in Africa: Unraveling the Link between Women’s Education and Reproductive Health Behaviors in Kenya” Social Science Research.40:654-666.
Meredith Greif, Amy Adamczyk, and Jacob Felson. 2011“Religion and Caregiving and Political Volunteering in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 11: 1-25.
Steven Stack, Amy Adamczyk,and Liqun Cao. 2010. “Survivalism and Public Opinion on Criminality: A Cross-National Analysis of Prostitution.” Social Forces 88:1703-1726.
Chris Scheitle and Amy Adamczyk. 2010. “High-costReligion, Religious Switching,and Health.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 51:325-342.
Amy Adamczyk and Cassady Pitt. 2009. “Shaping Attitudes about Homosexuality: The Role of Religion and Cultural Context.” Social Science Research. 38:338-351.
Amy Adamczyk. 2009.“Understanding the Effects of Personal and School Religiosity on the Decision to Abort a Premarital Pregnancy.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 50:180-195.
Amy Adamczyk. 2009.“Socialization and Selection in the Link between Friends ‘Religiosity and the Transition to Sexual Intercourse,” Sociology of Religion 70:5-27.
Chris Scheitle and Amy Adamczyk. 2009. “It Takes Two: The Interplay of Individual and Group Theology on Social Embeddedness,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48:16-29.
Khari Brown and Amy Adamczyk. 2009. “Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Provision of Health-related Programs among American Religious Congregations.” Journalof Sociologyand Social Welfare36: 105-123.
Amy Adamczyk, 2008.“Religious Contextual Norms,Structural Constraints, and Personal Religiosity for Abortion Decisions,” Social Science Research 37:657-672.
Amy Adamczyk and Ian Palmer. 2008. “Religion and Initiation into Marijuana Use: The Deterring Role of Religious Friends,” Journal of Drug Issues 38:717-742.
Amy Adamczyk and Jacob Felson. 2008. “Fetal Positions: Unraveling the Influence of Religion on Premarital Pregnancy Resolution,” Social Science Quarterly 89:17-.38.
Roger Finke and AmyAdamczyk. 2008.“Cross-National Moral Beliefs: The Influence of National Religious Context,” Sociological Quarterly 49:615-650.
Steven Stack, Liqun Cao,and Amy Adamczyk, 2007.“Crime Volume and Law and Order Culture” Justice Quarterly 24:291-308.
Amy Adamczyk and Jacob Felson, 2006. “Friends’Religiosity and First Sex,” Social ScienceResearch35: 924-947
Amy Adamczyk, 2005.“Frankl, Bettelheim and the Camps,” Genocide Research 7:1-17.
Amy Adamczyk,2004.“Religious Switching: DoesParents’ Education Matter?” Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion 15: 51-70.
Amy Adamczyk, JohnWybraniec, and Roger Finke,2004. “Religious Regulation and the Courts:Documenting the Effects of Smith and RFRA,” Journal of Church and State 46:237-262.
Amy Adamczyk, 2002. “On Thanksgiving and Collective Memory: Constructing the American Tradition,” Journal of Historical Sociology 15: 343-356.
