Yablonksy, a professor at CSUN since 1963, received the ASA¹s William Foote Whyte Career Award for Sociological Practice earlier this year at an ASA meeting in Washington, D.C.

"It feels very good to be recognized by my peers," Yablonsky said.

Yablonsky has spent 50 years as a sociologist. He is the author of more than 15 books including The Violent Gang and Juvenile Delinquency: Into the 21st Century, as well as numerous articles published in professional journals on sociology, criminology and criminal justice. He held teaching positions at several universities before settling down at Cal State Northridge. He has served as an expert witness and legal criminal consultant, and does work in gang intervention and prison group therapy.

Yablonsky, who grew up in Newark, NJ, was inspired to discover why some people are more susceptible to crime than others.

"From where I¹m from, you¹re either on one side of the law or the other," he said.

Yablonsky managed to avoid involvement in criminal activities, even while his boyhood friends were getting deeper into trouble with law enforcement. Since then, he said he has been driven to discover why this is so.

"I haven¹t figured it out yet," Yablonsky said.