DINITZ, SIMON

DINITZ, SIMON (1926– ), U.S. sociologist and criminologist. Dinitz received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1951. After his first teaching job there, Dinitz became professor of sociology at Ohio State University and research assistant in psychiatry. His special interest was the sociology of deviant behavior as expressed in delinquency and mental disorders, and he worked on the prevention of hospitalization for schizophrenics. He also served as senior fellow in the Academy of Contemporary Problems. He served as president of the American Society of Criminology (1971) as well as vice president (1968 and 1969). He capped hisacademic career as professor emeritus of sociology at Ohio State University.

A pioneer in the fields of sociology, psychology, criminal behavior, and public policy, Dinitz collaborated in writing such books as Social Problems: Dissensus and Deviation (1967); Women after Treatment (1968); Critical Issues in the Study of Crime (1968); Schizophrenics in the Community: An Experiment in the Prevention of Hospitalization (1967); The Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: An Experiment (1972); Schizophrenics in the New Custodial Community: Five Years After the Experiment (1974); In Fear of Each Other: Studies of Dangerousness in America (1977); The Mad, the Bad, and the Different (1981); and Introduction to Criminology: Order and Disorder (1988). In acknowledgment of his lifelong dedication to improving the knowledge base of corrections and having trained many correctional practitioners, the Ohio Community Corrections Organizations created the Dr. Simon Dinitz Achievement Award, which is given to a community correctional practitioner who has made contributions to the improvement of community correction in Ohio. Similarly, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction presents the Simon Dinitz Criminal Justice Research Award.

[Ruth Beloff (2^nd ed.)]