CJ511 - Nature of Crime

Module 1 - Why Theory?

Readings

Winfree and Abadinsky - Chapter 1
Online Reserves

Discussion Topics

	What is the relationship of Theory and Research?
	What is the relationship of Theory and Policy?

Module Links

Please note that some of these links may be "broken." A variety of links are provided - you are not expected to visit every site. You are encouraged to use Google or another search engine to locate relevant sites not be listed below.

Theoretical Perspectives in Criminology

The Importance of Theory in Criminology

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/301/motives.htm

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/301/crimpoly.htm

What is a "theory?"

http://thunder1.cudenver.edu//sociology/introsoc/topics/topic1.html

http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/theory.htm

http://www.pscw.uva.nl/sociosite/TOPICS/Theory.html

http://www.mcmaster.ca/socscidocs/w3virtsoclib/theories.htm

Scientific Theory - Should be logically sound and empirically verifiable.

http://home.xnet.com/~blatura/skep_1.html

Inductive and Deductive Theory

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/dedind.htm

Bad Theory, Good Theory, Better Theory: How Do We Judge?

http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/osgood.htm

Theory as predictor - probabilistic, not absolute

Paradigms - School of thought within a discipline

http://www.tryoung.com/chaos/004paradigm.html

http://www.heuristicparadigm.com/paradigm.htm

Three major paradigms:

Classical Criminology

http://www.crimetheory.com/Reading/further.htm#Classical

Cesare Beccaria

http://www.crimetheory.com/Archive/Beccaria/index.html

Jeremy Bentham

http://www.utilitarianism.com/bentham.htm

http://www.la.utexas.edu/labyrinth/ipml/index.html

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/index.htm

Contemporary Classicism - Rational Choice Theory

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/301/crimdecd.htm

http://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/200/ratchoc.html

http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/FIS/Courses/LIS2149/RatChoice.html

http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/wilson/paper.html

Policy implications - Deterence, Death Penalty

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/angel/procon/

The Positivist School

http://www.crimetheory.com/Theories/Positivist.htm

http://www.crimetheory.com/Reading/further.htm#Positivist

Cesare Lombroso

http://www.tld.jcu.edu.au/hist/stats/lomb/lombro3.htm

http://elvers.stjoe.udayton.edu/history/people/Lombroso.html

Determinism

http://www.englib.cornell.edu/sciTech/u95/bell.html

http://www.xrefer.com/entry/553214

Policy implications - Treatment and Rehabilitation

http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/just/just110/prison2.html

http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/jjbulletin/9907_3/contents.html

The Marxist Paradigm

http://csf.colorado.edu/mirrors/marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1840/com-man/index.htm

http://csf.colorado.edu/mirrors/marxists.org/

Marx's Social Theory - The law protects property while obscuring the impacts of social class

http://www.jstor.org/fcgi-bin/jstor/ . . .

http://critcrim.org

Relationship between economy and crime?

http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociology/303/303L1.html