Biography

Professor Barbara Costello began her academic career as a student at the University of Rhode Island and graduated with a B.A. in sociology in 1986. Costello earned the M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and was a member of the Mississippi State University faculty for six years before returning to URI.

Professor Costello’s research focuses on testing and extending control theories of crime. Her recent research involves studying peer influence on deviant behavior, with an emphasis on the mechanisms by which peers influence each other’s behavior toward prosocial behavior. She is on sabbatical for the Spring, 2021 semester studying social influence both toward and away from the initiation of opioid drugs and the injection of opioid drugs. This research is supported in part by a grant from URI’s Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy.

Professor Costello regularly teaches courses on crime and delinquency and a variety of courses in sociology. She is teaching a sociology topics course on witch hunts in the Fall, 2021 semester.