John I. Kitsuse, 80; Sociology Professor at UC Santa Cruz
John I. Kitsuse, 80, a sociologist at UC Santa Cruz known for his theories on deviant behavior and crime, died Nov. 27 at his home in Santa Cruz of complications from a stroke suffered the previous day.
Educated at Boston University and UCLA, Kitsuse taught at the University of Washington, San Diego State and Northwestern University before joining the UC Santa Cruz faculty in 1974. He retired in 1991. His best-known textbook, which he co-wrote with Malcolm Spector, was “Constructing Social Problems.”
From his period as a Fulbright scholar in Japan, Kitsuse maintained a strong professional relationship with the Japanese. He became expert in a method of prisoner rehabilitation called naikan, which requires inmates to reflect on the shame their crimes have brought to family members, and introduced the method to U.S. scholars.
Kitsuse also wrote widely about sexual harassment in the workplace, serial murder and how to understand the development and perception of social problems.
The professor served as president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems from 1978 to 1979 and at UC Santa Cruz served stints as vice chairman of its Academic Senate and as chairman of the sociology department.
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