She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from USC. Dr. Maxson is co-author of Street Gang Patterns and Policies (Oxford University Press, 2006) and Responding to Troubled Youth (Oxford University Press, 1997).and co-editor of The Eurogang Paradox: Gangs and Youth Groups in the U.S. and Europe (Kluwer/Plenum, 2001) and The Modern Gang Reader (Roxbury Publishing, 1st ed, 1995; 2nd ed., 2001; 3rd ed., 2006). Her articles, chapters, and policy reports concern street gangs, status offenders, youth violence, juvenile justice legislation, drug sales, community policing and community treatment of juvenile offenders. She has served as President of the Western Society of Criminology, where she is honored as a Fellow, and as Executive Counselor of the American Society of Criminology and associate editor of its journal, Criminology.