NCJ Number
44513
Editor(s)
S SCHAFER,
R D KNUDTEN
Date Published
1977
Length
277 pages
Annotation
ARTICLES ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY, DATING FROM 1825 TO 1976, ILLUSTRATE THE EVOLUTION OF THOUGHT IN THIS AREA AND PROVIDE A BACKGROUND FOR UNDERSTANDING THE ASSUMPTIONS OF MODERN CRIMINOLOGY.
Abstract
AN INTRODUCTION BRIEFLY TRACES THE HISTORY OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THOUGHT FROM PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES' VIEWS OF A CRIME AS A PERSONAL AFFRONT AND THEIR EMPHASIS ON REVENGE, THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF REHABILITATION, TO MODERN THEORIES OF CRIME WITH THEIR MAJOR DIVISIONS OF BIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIOCULTURAL EXPLANATIONS. THE CONCEPT OF CRIME AND SUCH ISSUES AS THE TRUE ORIGINATOR OF LAW (GOD, THE RULER, OR THE PEOPLE); THE DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL ACTS; TYPES AND AIMS OF PUNISHMENT; AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF CRIME AND SOCIETY IN GENERAL ARE TREATED IN A SECTION CONTAINING ARTICLES BY SUCH AUTHORS AS JEREMY BENTHAM AND EMILE DURKHEIM. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN BIOLOGICAL-CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY IS EXPLORED, INCLUDING DISCUSSIONS OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO CRIME, BODY TYPES, PHRENOLOGY, AND THE EXTRA Y-CHROMOSOME. VARYING THEORIES AND STUDIES OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF CRIME ARE PRESENTED, SUCH AS THE RELATIONSHIP OF INSANITY AND CRIME, 'FEEBLEMINDEDNESS' AND CRIME, AND PAUPERISM AND CRIME; THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER; AND TWO STUDIES OF FAMILY HISTORIES. A SECTION ON THE SOCIOCULTURAL CAUSES OF CRIME CONSIDERS CRIMINAL ASSOCIATION, THE LAWS OF IMITATION, THE DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY, THE CONCEPT OF ANOMIE, THE SOCIALIST APPROACH OF CRIME, AND ECONOMIC FACTORS. PAST AND PRESENT CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES ARE SUMMARIZED, AND PROJECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT ARE PRESENTED.