Alida Merlo

Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Areas of Expertise

  • Juvenile justice policy
  • Criminal justice policy
  • Corrections
  • Women and the law

Key Findings

  • Research on children’s development and effects of victimization on children, financial factors as well as decreases in juvenile crime after court rulings helped shape today’s juvenile justice policies. MORE

Biography

Alida Merlo, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is an expert in juvenile justice policy, criminal justice policy and women and the law.

Merlo served as the president of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). She is the recipient of the ACJS Fellow Award, Founder’s Award and the Outstanding Mentor Award. Merlo currently serves on the editorial board of Crime and Delinquency, the International Journal of Police Science and Management and Women & Criminal Justice.

Merlo has published several books including The Juvenile Justice System: Delinquency, Processing and the Law, Controversies in Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Crime Control, Politics and Policy as well as co-authored chapters and articles that appeared in scholarly journals.

She earned her Ph.D. in sociology from Fordham University, M.S. in criminal justice from Northeastern University and B.A. in sociology from Youngstown State University.