Melissa Rorie (she/her) | Senior Research Manager | mrorie@omni.org

Dr. Melissa Rorie is a Senior Research Manager at OMNI and serves on the Supervisory Best Practices Team. She has 20 years of experience in applied as well as theoretical research, covering a wide variety of subject areas such as white-collar crime, policing, and delinquency prevention.

At OMNI, Dr. Rorie leads projects in the Justice, Behavioral Health, and Children & Families areas of focus. Specifically, she leads or provides oversight on evaluations of co-responder policing programs; needs assessments to understand community priorities in the opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery landscape; and primary prevention programming, among others. For example, she led the development of a Strengths and Needs Assessment of the opioid landscape in Suffolk, VA which will guide future allocations of funding from the National Opioids Settlement.

Dr. Rorie is a member of the International Co-Responder Alliance and serves as a Steering Committee member of ComplianceNet.

Prior to joining OMNI in 2022, Dr. Rorie was an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas. There, she specialized in teaching and research on elite white-collar and corporate crime as well as writing about and studying research methods more broadly. She is the sole or lead editor of two books on white-collar and corporate crime.

Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention (2022) describes the strengths and weaknesses of various methods used to assess corporate compliance, offering both academics and practitioners guidance on which measures are best for different purposes.
The Handbook of White-Collar Crime (2019) provides an overview of research on white-collar crime, including international perspectives, and explores the impact of definitional ambiguity on how we respond to these types of offenses.

In her spare time, she loves to cuddle with her two large dogs, bake anything sweet, and exercise outdoors when the weather in Las Vegas permits.

“I am so excited to be working for an organization that seeks to integrate social justice issues in every aspect of their work. I became a researcher in order to make society better, and think that OMNI is providing an environment in which I can do that. I wake up excited to come to work each day and help people through the research that we do”

Featured Research Publication

Access the Report

Led by Dr. Rorie, OMNI worked with the City of Suffolk Department of Social Services (DSS) to conduct a local needs assessment on opioid misuse and strengths and gaps in services across the continuum of care that will inform the future use of Opioid Settlement Funds.

The project’s initial phase of work included the development of a landscape analysis, an inventory of secondary data sources, and the recruitment of representatives from key sectors across Suffolk to participate in a meeting to build relationships, understand local context, and guide future primary data collection processes.

The next phase of the work included facilitating the meeting with key representatives, primary data collection through a provider/key representative survey, and key informant interviews with providers and community members with lived experience.

The last phase of the work featured the synthesis of primary and secondary data and the development of the assessment report and executive summary for review and final presentation to the City and key partners.

Content Expertise

Criminal Justice

Education

Children and Families

Education

University of Maryland
Ph.D., Criminology and Criminal Justice
M.A., Criminology and Criminal Justice

University of Mary Washington
B.S., Psychology, summa cum laude

+ Certifications, Memberships, Awards, and Service

American Society of Criminology’s Division of White-Collar and Corporate Crime for research:

2017 – Outstanding Article or Book Chapter Award
2018 – Young Career Award
2020 – Honorable Mention, Outstanding Article or Book Chapter Award

University of Nevada, Las Vegas:

2021 “Outstanding Mentor” award for mentorship from the Graduate and Professional Student Association
Tenured at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2019. Promoted to department chair in 2022 (first female chair in the history of the Criminal Justice Department).

+ Selected Peer Reviewed Publications

Desmond, S., Rorie, M., and Sohoni, T. (2022). “Working for God: Religion and Occupational Crime and Deviance.” Deviant Behavior. Available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01639625.2021.2022968
Rorie, M., Park, S., and West, M. (2022). “Does Structural Choice Theory Predict Immunity as well as Victimization? A Test Using Zero-Inflated Mixed-Effect SEM Analyses of Adolescent Victimizations in South Korea.” International Review of Victimology. Available online: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02697580211057330
Kennedy, J., Rorie, M., and Benson, M. (2021). “COVID-19 Frauds: An Exploratory Study of Victimization During a Global Crisis.” Criminology and Public Policy, 20, 493 - 543.
Rorie, M. and West, M. (2020). “Can ‘Focused Deterrence’ Produce More Effective Ethics Codes? An Experimental Study.” Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime 3(1), 33 – 45.
Sohoni, T. and Rorie, M. (2019). “The Whiteness of White-Collar Crime: Examining the Role of Race in a Culture of White-Collar Crime.” Theoretical Criminology 25(1), 66 – 87.
West, M., Rorie, M., and Cohen, M. (2018, online first). “The “Pliability” of Criminological Analyses: Assessing Bias in Regression Estimates Using Monte Carlo Simulations.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 36, 371 – 394.
Rorie, M., Simpson, S., Cohen, M., and Vandenbergh, M. (2018). “Examining Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Corporate Offending and Overcompliance.” Law & Policy 40(2), 172 – 195.
Rorie, M., Alper, M., Simpson, S., and Schell-Busey, N. (2017). “Using Meta-Analysis when Definitional Ambiguity Reigns: The Case of Corporate Crime.” Criminal Justice Studies 31(1), 38 – 61.
Rorie, M. (2017). “Regulating a ‘Pariah Industry’: The Need for a Responsive Approach.” UNLV Gaming Research and Review Journal, 21(1), 69 – 95.
Pautz, M., Rinfret, S., and Rorie, M. (2017). “Understanding the Regulatory Thicket: Interactions Among State Environmental Regulators and Environmental Professionals." International Journal of Public Administration, 40(2), 101 – 114.
Schell-Busey, N., Simpson, S., Rorie, M., and Alper, M. (2016). “What Works? A Systematic Review of Corporate Crime Deterrence.” Criminology & Public Policy 15(2), 1 - 30.
Rorie, M. (2015). “An Integrated Theory of Corporate Environmental Compliance and Overcompliance.”
Crime, Law, and Social Change 64(2), 65 – 101.
Rorie, M., Rinfret, S., and Pautz, M. (2015). “The Thin Green Line: Examining Environmental Regulation and Environmental Offending from Multiple Perspectives.” International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 43(4), 586 – 608.
Rorie, M., Gottfredson, D.C., Cross, A.B., Wilson, D.M., and Connell, N. (2011). “Structure and Deviancy Training in After-School Programs.” Journal of Adolescence 34: 105 - 117.
Gottfredson, D., Cross, A. B., Wilson, D., Rorie, M., & Connell, N. (2010). “Effects of Participation in After-School Programs for Middle School Students: A Randomized Trial.” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 3(3), 282-313.
Wilson, D.M., Gottfredson, D.C., Cross, A.B., Rorie, M., and Connell, N. (2010). “Youth Development in After-School Leisure Activities.” Journal of Early Adolescence 30: 668 - 690.
Cross, A.B., Gottfredson, D.C., Wilson, D.M., Rorie, M., and Connell, N. (2010). “Implementation Quality and Positive Experiences in After-School Programs.” American Journal of Community Psychology 45:370 – 380.
Gottfredson, D.C., Cross, A.B., Wilson, D.M., Rorie, M., and Connell, N. (2010). “An Experimental Evaluation of the All Stars Prevention Curriculum in a Community After School Setting.” Prevention Science 11(2): 142 – 154.
Cross, A.B., Gottfredson, D.C., Wilson, D.M., Rorie, M., and Connell, N. (2009). “The Impact of After- School Programs on the Routine Activities of Middle-School Students: Results from a Randomized, Controlled Trial.” Criminology and Public Policy 8(2): 391 – 412.

+ Selected Book and Book Chapters

Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (eds.) (2022). Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention. Cambridge University Press.
van Rooij, B., and Rorie, M. (2022). “Measuring Compliance: The Challenges in Assessing and Understanding the Interaction Between Law and Organizational Misconduct.” Chapter in Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (eds.) Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention. Cambridge University Press.
Rorie, M. (2022). “Self-report Surveys and Factorial Survey Experiments.” Chapter in Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (eds.) Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention. Cambridge University Press.
Rorie, M. (2022). “The Use of Randomized Experiments for Assessing Corporate Compliance.” Chapter in Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (eds.) Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention. Cambridge University Press.
van Rooij, B., and Rorie, M. (2022). “Admitting Noncompliance: Interview Strategies for Assessing Undetected Legal Deviance .” Chapter in Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (eds.) Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention. Cambridge University Press.
West, M. and Rorie, M. (2022). “Data Simulations as a Means of Improving Compliance Measurement. Chapter in Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (eds.) Measuring Compliance: Assessing Corporate Crime and Misconduct Prevention. Cambridge University Press.
Rorie, M. (2021). “Observations on European White-Collar Crime Research from the U.S.” Chapter in Nicholas Lord, Eva Inzelt, Wim Huisman, and Rita Faria (eds.), European White-Collar Crime: Exploring the Nature of European Realities. Bristol University Press.
Rorie, M., and Schell-Busey, N. (2021). “Deterring Corporate Crime: Assumptions, Evidence, and Criticisms of Current Efforts.” Chapter in B. van Rooij and D. Sokol (eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Compliance. Cambridge University Press.
Rorie, M. (ed.) (2019). Handbook of White-Collar Crime. Wiley Publishing.
Rorie, M., Simpson, S.S., and Boppre, B. (2018). “Factorial Survey Research in the Study of Regulatory Processes and Administrative Sanctions.” Chapter in W. van Boom, P. Desmet, and P. Mascini (eds.) Empirical Legal Research in Action: Reflections on Methods and Their Applications. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Rorie, M. (2018). “Corporate Malfeasance as a Social Problem.” Chapter in A.J. Trevino (ed.) Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems. Cambridge University Press.
Rorie, M. (2017). “Experimental Criminology.” Chapter in A. Brisman, E. Carrabine, and N. South (eds.) Routledge Companion to Criminological Theory. Routledge Publishing.

+ Selected Presentations

Rorie, M. (2022, July). The Approachable Experiment: How Compliance Practitioners Can Leverage the “Gold Standard” of Research Design. Paper presented at the ComplianceNet Annual Meeting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Rorie, M. (2022, March). Interviewed as part of “State of Nevada After Dark: 1,000s are scammed in Nevada every year. What can you do?” Nevada Public Radio: https://knpr.org/knpr/2022-03/state-nevada-after-dark-1000s-are- scammed-nevada-every-year-what-can-you-do
Rorie, M. (2022, February) Interviewed as part of “Professors Melissa Rorie and Benjamin van Rooij on Measuring Compliance.” The Human Risk Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/user/human- risk/benjamin- van-rooij-melissa-rorie-on-meas
Rorie, M. (2021, November). White-Collar Crime Victimization During a Global Crisis: An Exploratory Study of COVID-19 Frauds. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Rorie, M., and van Rooij, B. (2021, June). Measuring Compliance: The Challenges in Assessing and Understanding the Interaction Between Law and Organizational Misconduct. Paper presented at the 2021 ComplianceNet Annual Meeting, online.
Schell-Busey, N., and Rorie, M. (2021, June). Deterring Corporate Crime: Assumptions, Evidence, and Criticisms of Current Efforts. Paper presented at the 2021 ComplianceNet Annual Meeting, online.
Rorie, M. (2021, April 23). Don’t Get Mad, Get Wise: A Criminological Journey from Hopelessness to Optimism. Keynote Speech at the Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society Induction Ceremony, Colorado State University – Fort Collins, online.
Rorie, M., Sohoni, T., and Reed, S.* (2020, September). The Whiteness of White-Collar Crime. Paper presented at the 2020 European Society of Criminology Conference, online.
Rorie, M. (2019, November). Policing the Pits: Studying Corporate Gaming Violations from a Criminological Perspective. Paper presented at the 2019 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Rorie, M. (2019, June). Do You See Yourself Complying? The Use of Visual Measures in Compliance Surveys. Paper presented at the 2019 ComplianceNet Annual Meeting, Villanova, PA.
Rorie, M. and van Wingerde, K. (2019, May). Regulating the Gaming Industry Across Time and Place: Support for the Governance Turn in Vice Industries? Paper presented at the 2019 International Gaming Institute Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Rorie, M. (2019, February). Threat Communication and the White-Collar Offender: The Potential for Direct Deterrence Messaging in the Workplace. Paper presented at the 2019 Western Society of Criminology’s Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A bricklayer

What is your special talent?
Making sure even the quiet people in a group conversation get a chance to talk

What is your favorite thing to "nerd out" on?
Pretty much any British reality competition show you can think of that's available in the United States