GUANGZHEN WU

There are three major complementary threads running through my research. First, I focus on the ways in which police behavior, as that involves their ethics/integrity, may be affected by factors such as organizational support, police perceptions of the public, and police stress. Second, I am interested in assessing the impact of pivotal policy change (i.e., the legalization of marijuana in the United States) on law enforcement and crime. Third, I am also interested in testing and extending criminological theories to differential social and cultural contexts. I merged these interests around the function of social and organizational dynamics and their implication for theory and policy. This analysis is conducted under the aegis of a comparative perspective and is empirically grounded.

 

Selected Publications:

 

Wu, Guangzhen & Jianhong Liu. 2026. "Collective Efficacy and Fear of Crime: An Empirical and Theoretical Exploration in the Context of Contemporary Urban China." Journal of Criminal Justice. 

 

Wu, Guangzhen & Jianhong Liu. 2025. "Neighborhood Social Control and Police Legitimacy: An Empirical and Theoretical Exploration in the Context of Contemporary Urban China." The British Journal of Criminology. 

 

Wu, G., Durante, K., Melton, H., & Roddy, A. 2025. "Marijuana legalization and racial disparities in prison incarceration in Colorado and Washington State: a quasi-experimental study." Journal of Experimental Criminology.

 

Jianhong Liu and Guangzhen Wu (corresponding author). 2025. "Procedural fairness and fear of crime: Extending the procedural justice theoretical model under the Chinese context." Crime & Delinquency.

 

Wu, G., Durante, K., & Melton, H. 2024. "Pipe dreams: Cannabis legalization and the persistence of racial disparities in jail incarceration." Journal of Criminal Justice.

 

Wu, Guangzhen and Roarke Cullenbine. 2022. "Recreational marijuana legalization and drug‑related offenses in Washington State: an interrupted time series analysis with a combination of synthetic controls." Journal of Experimental Criminology.

 

Wu, Guangzhen and Jianhong Liu. 2021. "Extending procedural justice theory to the Chinese context: The role of collective efficacy." The British Journal of Criminology. 

 

Wu, Guangzhen, Yongtao Li, and Xiaodong (Eric) Lang. 2022. "Effects of recreational marijuana legalization on clearance rates for violent crimes: Evidence from Oregon." International Journal of Drug Policy 100, 103528.

 

Wu, Guangzhen, Ming Wen, and Fernando Wilson. 2021. "Impact of recreational marijuana legalization on crime: Evidence from Oregon." Journal of Criminal Justice 72, 1-11. 

 

Wu, Guangzhen and David Makin. 2019. "The quagmire that is an unwillingness to report: Situating the code of silence within the Chinese police context." Criminal Justice and Behavior 46, 608-627.

 

Wu, Guangzhen and Dale Willits. 2022. "The Impact of Recreational Marijuana Legalization on Simple Assault in Oregon." Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 

 

Wu, Guangzhen and David Makin. 2021. "The Differential Role of Stress on Police Officers’ Perceptions of Misconduct." Asian Journal of Criminology 16, 213-233.