Robert Peralta Email & Phone Number

Dr. Peralta is a Full Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Akron, where he has served since 2004. He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Delaware in 2002, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2001-2002). With over 40 publications, including 36 peer-reviewed articles and three papers reprinted as book chapters, he has maintained a strong record of scholarly productivity. As a sociologist with criminological training, his research examines the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, substance use, and interpersonal violence. His work investigates the impact of social structure on behavior, focusing on the social determinants of health through four interrelated research streams:1. Gender, Alcohol and Other Substance Use2. Gender and Interpersonal Violence3. Substance Use and Interpersonal Violence4. Race/Ethnicity, Alcohol, and Other Substance UseHe has lead several externally funded initiatives examining gender and health behaviors. His innovative research explores gender orientation's role - beyond binary sex categories - in health outcomes, producing multiple peer-reviewed publications on the relationships between gendered traits and behavioral outcomes such as non-medical prescription drug abuse, heavy episodic drinking, and aggressive behavior. Through an NIH R25 fellowship collaboration with Michigan State University, he researched alcohol use disorders (AUDs) among sexual minorities using National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. A qualitative study with Cleveland State University examined gender-specific health experiences among formerly incarcerated individuals.In summer 2023, he led a community-engaged research project examining policing's effects on a Black community. This multiple-method study, developed in partnership with organizations including Black Lives Matter and the Community Police Commission, integrated surveys and field observations to analyze patterns of police practice, institutional trust, and community well-being. The project exemplifies his commitment to research on social-structural impacts of institutional practices on community outcomes.His integrated research agenda advances our understanding of how social structural factors shape behavioral outcomes and influence patterns of behavior across demographic groups. His work combines rigorous methodology with community engagement to produce research that both contributes to academic knowledge and addresses pressing social issues.

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