Joshua T. Ellsworth, Ph.D.

Joshua T. Ellsworth, Ph.D., is an American criminologist located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His research and scholarship examines situational characteristics and behavioral processes associated with acts of violence, victimization, and the effects of crime on vulnerable populations. He specializes in fieldwork-based research, including qualitative and ethnographic methods. Much of his work has thus far focused on homelessness-related crime and victimization, as well as how physically vulnerable adults cope with, perceive, and navigate crime- and victimization-prone environments.

He has additional interests in historical criminology, particularly how scholarship emerging from historical research and historical methods of inquiry furthers our understanding of criminality, violence, and society's response to crime.

Pedagogically, he brings all these elements together—his present research, contemporary criminological theory, and historical material—to inform his teaching regarding the causes and nature of violent crime and interpersonal victimization, as well as the history and function of the criminal justice system. His scholarship, research, and teaching are each informed by his prior policing career, including his years as a detective in Baltimore, Maryland.

He is an editor for the Journal of Historical Criminology.