Dr. Darrick Brake earned his PhD in Sociology from Western Michigan University. He holds an MA in Sociology from Central Michigan University, with a minor in teaching in the higher education setting.and a BA in Sociology from Adrian College.
Dr. Brake is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at West Liberty University. He has also taught at Concord University, Ball State University, Glen Oaks Community College, Grand Valley State University, and Western Michigan University in the Department of Sociology and Criminology. He has also taught numerous courses in the discipline of Sociology, Social Psychology, and Criminal Justice. Most recently, he has been focused on teaching graduate courses in criminal justice that have strong ties to the symbolic interactionist perspective on crime and deviant behavior.
Dr. Brake has various areas of specialization within Sociology and Criminal Justice which include: symbolic interactionism, the development and origins of symbolic interactionism, pragmatism, social psychology, and sociological theory.
He has several ongoing research interests ranging from the reconceptualization of the development of symbolic interactionist theory, to the development and history of sociological theory and metatheory, to the recognition of human trafficking as a significant modern social issue. He also has been investigating and exploring new and innovative ideas in network theory and the concept of a network society.
His most recent publication with Landon Elsemere Press includes the chapter Human Trafficking in Tridico, F., Pellerito, J., Brake, D. (Eds.) Issues in Social Justice, Second Edition (2018). He will be co-authoring Symbolic Interactionism: From Its Origins to Contemporary Theory (2019)with Charles Quist-Adade. The book will examine the academic contribution of Josiah Royce to symbolic interactionist theory.
Dr. Brake will also include the chapter Financing of Terror published in Frank Tridico's Global Terrorism (2019) book from Landon Elsemere Press.
