Steven Chermak
- Professor
- School of Criminal Justice
- PhD 1993, State University of New York at Albany
- MA 1988, State University of New York at Albany
- BA 1987, Bowling Green State University
- 512 Baker Hall
- 655 Auditorium Rd.
- East Lansing, MI 48824
- chermak@msu.edu
Links
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
Biography
Steven M. Chermak is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Dr. Chermak is interested in studying terrorism, school shootings, mass shootings, criminal justice organizations, and media coverage of crime and criminal justice. Much of his work in the last ten years has focused on terrorist and extremist activity. He and several colleagues are responsible for building the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and the Risk and Protective Factor Database (RPFD)—both focused on domestic extremism activities in the US. The ECDB has allowed him to publish articles understanding patterns of violence of far right, far left, and al-Qaeda inspired extremists, documenting how lone wolf attacks are different than group-inspired terrorist attacks, examining the characteristics of foiled terrorist plots, and methodological pieces related to the use of open source research methodologies. He and colleagues have also received funding to build another database on fatal and non-fatal school shootings. This database, called The American School Shooting Study, has been analyzed to identify characteristics of school shooters, characteristics of warning behaviors of school shooters, and how school shooters who commit suicide are different from those that do not. Finally, he has also engaged in multiple cybercrime related projects, primarily focusing on the rhetoric of far right extremists.
Dr. Chermak’s research has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Justice, and the Michigan State Police. He has published two books, seven edited books, and numerous research reports. His research has appeared in a number of journals including The Annual Review of Criminology, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Criminology and Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and the Journal of Crime, Conflict, and the Media.
Current Research
- Developing a Database on Fatal and Non-Fatal School Shootings in the United States
- Building a Database on Cyberterrorism Incidents
- Examining Risk and Protective Factors of Violent and Non-Violent Extremists
Areas of Expertise
- Domestic Terrorism
- Targeted Violence (e.g., School Shootings, Mass Shootings)
- Hate Crimes
- Criminal Justice Organizations
- Media and Criminal Justice
Selected Publications
Holt, T., Stonhouse, M., Freilich, J., & Chermak, S. (2019). Examining Ideologically Motivated Cyberattacks Performed by Far-Left Groups. Terrorism and Political Violence.
Gruenewald, J., Klein, B., Freilich, J., & Chermak, S. (2019). American Jihadi Terrorism: A Comparison of Homicides and Unsuccessful Plots. Terrorism and Political Violence.
Freilich, J., Parkin, W., Gruenewald, J., & Chermak, S. (2019). Comparing Extremist Perpetrators of Suicide and Non-Suicide Attacks in the United States. Terrorism and Political Violence.
Gruenewald, J., Klein, B., Parkin, W., Freilich, J., & Chermak, S. (2019). A Situated Comparison of Suicide and Non-Suicide Terrorist Plots and Homicides in the United States, 1990-2014. Crime & Delinquency.
Mitnik, Z., Freilich, J., & Chermak, S. (2018). Post-9/11 Coverage of Terrorism in the New York Times. Justice Quarterly.