In 1985, Borum was a cadet at James Madison University Police Department in Virginia and then a seasonal police officer at Ocean City Police Department in Ocean City, Maryland. Following that he chose a different field, and was a counselor and trainer for Listening Ear Services in Harrisonburg, Virginia; was a counselor for Tidewater Psychiatric Institute in Norfolk, Virginia; and was an outpatient therapist for Circles of Care in Melbourne, Florida. He then returned to law enforcement and was a police instructor for the Brevard CountyLaw Enforcement Academy and with the Palm Bay Police Department in Palm Bay, Florida, while he worked on his practica at Florida Institute of Technology. Next he was a psychology intern at the James A. Haley V.A. Medical Center in Tampa and was a Fellow in Forensic Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center Law & Psychiatry Program. Following that he was Chief Psychologist and Forensic Coordinator for John Umstead Hospital, Adult Admissions Unit in Butner, North Carolina, and then a research fellow for the UNC-Duke Post-doctoral Training Program in Mental Health Services and Systems Research. Borum began his career in academia at Duke University Medical Center, where he was Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology, and, at Duke's School of Medicine, where he was Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology. In 1999 he joined the University of South Florida. At USF his roles have been those of Senior Research Scientist for the James and Jennifer Harrell Center for the Study of Domestic Violence, Courtesy Professor for the Department of Criminology, Associate Professor for the College of Public Health, Associate Professor for the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Professor for the College of Public Health, Professor for FMHI, Faculty Affiliate for the Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies, Academic Coordinator for Cybersecurity @ USF, and Professor for the School of Information.
Awards and honors
In 1996 Borum earned the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Contributions to Practice in Psychology and Law. Following that the Florida Institute of Technology School of Psychology conferred to him its Outstanding Alumnus Award. .
Books
Ridgely, S., Borum, R., & Petrila, J.. The effectiveness of involuntary outpatient treatment. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
Borum, R.. Psychology of Terrorism. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida..
Borum, R., Bartel, P., Forth, A.. Manual for the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth . Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Borum, R. & Verhaagen, D.. Assessing and managing violence risk in juveniles. New York: Guilford Press.
Borum, R.. The Science of Interpersonal Trust. McLean, Va: The MITRE Corporation/IARPA.
Qatar International Academy for Security Studies . Risk reduction for countering violent extremism. Doha, Qatar: QIASS.
Borum, R., Fein, R. & Vossekuil, B. Risk Assessment for Terrorism: A Practitioner Oriented Review. Arc Project Working Paper: UK-US.
Borum, R., Fein, R. & Vossekuil, B. Lone Offender Terrorism: A Practitioner Oriented Review. Arc Project Working Paper: UK-US.
Borum, R., Fein, R. & Vossekuil, B. Psychology of Foreign Fighters: A Practitioner Oriented Review. Arc Project Working Paper: UK-US.
Borum, R., Fein, R. & Vossekuil, B. Abnormal Psychology & Terrorism: Advanced Literature Review. Arc Project Working Paper: UK-US