Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology

Lewis Yablonsky, California State University-Northridge

This award is presented annually to individuals who, in making contributions to the practice of sociology, have advanced the utility of the discipline, elevated the status of sociology in the public’s mind, contributed to the development of the field, and advanced human welfare in our community.

For more than 50 years as a sociologist, criminologist, and psychotherapist, Lewis Yablonsky has made outstanding and unique contributions that “advance human welfare,” both in and outside the field of sociology. His wide-ranging work has improved organizational performance, made communities better, and elevated the field of sociology in the United States and abroad. He has published 17 books in sociology and criminology that have been translated into 12 languages.

Yablonsky was one of the early pioneers in youth gang work and intervention, and his theoretical and applied research on youth crime has shaped the training of thousands of students and practitioners. He has been a pioneer in developing therapeutic communities to assist substance abusers and criminals. He has worked as a counselor in a juvenile jail, directed a New York crime prevention program, and been a marriage and family therapist at several California State Psychiatric Hospitals.

The award selection committee found that Yablonsky’s outstanding scholarship and practice in sociology and criminology made him a most worthy recipient of ASA’s Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology.