Dr. Gordon A. Crews is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Marshall University.  Prior to this position, he served as Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.  Since 1990, Dr. Crews has served as a faculty member and/or academic administrator at Cameron University (OK), Roger Williams University (RI), Jacksonville State University (AL), Valdosta State University (GA), and the University of South Carolina Beaufort (SC).

He earned a Ph.D. in Education/Criminal Justice, a Graduate Certificate in Alcohol & Drug Studies, a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, and Masters of Criminal Justice, from the University of South Carolina (SC).  He served as Executive Counselor for the Juvenile Justice Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and as former President and member of the Board of Directors for the Southern Criminal Justice Association.Prior to teaching, Dr. Crews worked in law enforcement as a bloodhound officer & trainer, field-training officer, and criminal investigator; in corrections as a training and accreditation manager; and in insurance fraud as an investigator.  His publications include journal articles dealing with school violence, Occult/Satanic involvement and youth, and various law enforcement and correctional issues.  His books include Faces of Violence in America (1996), published by Simon & Schuster; The Evolution of School Disturbance in America: Colonial Times to Modern Day (1997), published by Praeger; A History of Correctional Violence: An Examination of Reported Causes of Riots and Disturbances (1998), published by the American Correctional Association; Chasing Shadows: Confronting Juvenile Violence in America (2001), published by Prentice Hall; Living in Prison:  A History of the Correctional System with an Insider’s View (2004), published by Greenwood Publishers; and, In the Margins:  Special Populations and American Justice  (2008), published by Prentice Hall.  His most recent book is entitled, Juvenile Delinquency and Violence:  Examining International Police and Societal Response (2009), published by CRC/Taylor and Francis.  Dr. Crews' current research interests focus on an international comparison of police and societal response to individuals involved in alternative belief practices (e.g., Satanism, Wicca, Goth, etc.).

Since 2000, he has conducted extensive field research in these areas across the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, Netherlands, Central Europe, Scandinavia, and most recently in Turkey and Ghana, Africa.