Theory is a core component in the teaching of many social sciences, including criminology-related programmes in higher education, but both students and lecturers can find it challenging. Given the growing popularity of criminology programmes, scholarship on the teaching and learning of criminological theory is increasingly important. This article…

School delinquency in public elementary, middle, and high schools has decreased in recent years, but is still a major issue that has negative mental health and academic implications for adolescents. Although research has focused on both individual-level and school-level explanations of school delinquency, it is not yet clear which macro-level…

It is a truism to remind ourselves that scientific theory is a human product subject to many of the same social processes that govern other social acts. Science, however, whether social or natural, pretends to claim a higher mission, a more sophisticated methodology, and more consequential and reliable outcomes than human efforts arising from…

Asserts that several analytical issues in randomized field experiments conducted by criminal justice scholars must be addressed more systematically. Notes that issues related to statistical power and desired sample size remain unresolved. Reviews related literature from the field of medicine to provide insights regarding the dilemmas created by…

Challenges leading crime theories by arguing that it is not possible to fully distinguish between different crime theories by focusing on the effect of their independent variables. Argues that such crime theories are best distinguished in terms of their specification of crime motives. Such motives may be positive or negative. Discusses these…

Nowhere is myth more commonplace than in the correctional setting. With its foundation firmly implanted in tradition and folklore, a great deal of prison management is based on intuitive principles. Moreover, the popular theoretical positions concerning the impact of incarceration have been equally intuitive, or at best ideologically based in the…

Examines the original Hawthorne relay-assembly research. Asserts the "Hawthorne misunderstanding" is common in criminology and criminal justice because authors have failed to properly attribute the explanation of increased work output to the Hawthorne effect. Describes the Hawthorne effect, how it is produced, and ways to achieve the…

This article reviews longitudinal research within criminology and the health sciences on the relationship between reading and criminal, delinquent, or antisocial behavior. Longitudinal research in criminology, medicine, and psychology examines the role of reading within a broad set of interactive processes, connecting literacy to public health via…

Several factors indicate that there is a relationship between economic conditions and crime among black women. Crime statistics show that outside of the misdemeanors of drunkenness and disorderly conduct, black women tend to be arrested for larceny and prostitution, both economic crimes. The fact that black women are at the bottom of the economic…

Critically reviews the literature that has attempted to measure and explain the alleged changes in the volume and character of female delinquency during the era of women's emancipation. Examines whether females have actually changed in their patterns of delinquency, and reviews theories that explain female delinquency. (JS)

The differences between criminology and criminal justice are assessed by comparing them to a more abstract typology. This typology is comprised of four basic elements: the focal concerns of the fields; career patterns of professionals; the extent to which the fields are theoretically based and are disciplines, sciences, and professions; and the…

Reviews nature of criminal activity in libraries in context of two criminological theoretical groupings: psychological theories (encompasses criminological attention to individual psychological traits), and sociological theories (examines ways in which societies are structured and how structures might generate crime). Some strategies of prevention…

This book reviews the history of academic criminal justice--the studying and teaching of crime, police, law and legal processes, and corrections--from 1870 to the present. The nine chapters have the following titles: (1) "Introduction: Academic Politics and Professionalism, 1870-1930"; (2) "Progressivism and Police Education,…

Witness involvement in crime is examined using official statistics and controlled experimental methods. A model is developed to aid understanding of choices open to witnesses to crime and variables which may intervene. (Author/RC)

The question of whether criminology and criminal justice are distinct fields is addressed in two papers. Differences between criminology and criminal justice are delineated by emphasizing formal definitions of the field(s), occupational roles, contemporary educational trends, and future development. According to John P. Conrad, criminology is the…