CULTURE AND CRIME

• NCJ Number: 51430
• Journal: Annales Internationales de Criminologie Volume: 16 Issue: 1-2, Dated: (1977) Pages: 87-108
• Author(s): W CLIFFORD
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 22 pages
• Corporate Author: Societe Internationale de Criminologie
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: France
• Note: REPRINTED FROM INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOLOGY, V 6, N 1 (JANUARY 1978)

Annotation

THE THEME OF THIS PAPER IS THAT, UNTIL RECENTLY, NEARLY ALL CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH HAS BEEN TOO NATIONALISTIC AND NARROW IN FOCUS. AS A RESULT, ALMOST NO MATERIAL EXAMINING CULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS TO CRIME HAS APPEARED.

Abstract

TO DATE ALMOST ALL STUDIES CONCERNING CROSS-CULTURAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS CRIME AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CRIME AND SOCIAL PERCEPTIONS HAVE BEEN DONE BY ANTHROPOLOGISTS OR PHILOSOPHERS. CRIMINOLOGISTS TRADITIONALLY HAVE FOCUSED ON THEIR OWN COUNTRIES AND, EVEN THERE, OFTEN HAVE FAILED TO EXAMINE SUBCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CRIME. RESEARCH IN CRIMINOLOGY HAS BEEN CONCENTRATED ON THE DEVELOPED NATIONS OF THE WEST, BUT EVEN WESTERN CRIMINOLOGY HAS FAILED TO EXAMINE REASONS FOR THE LOW CRIME RATES FOUND IN SWITZERLAND AND ICELAND TO DETERMINE THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS BEHIND THESE RATES. THE FADS AND FASHIONS IN CRIMINOLOGY RESEARCH ARE TRACED. CRIMINOLOGISTS ARE URGED TO BROADEN THEIR APPROACH, TO CALL UPON OTHER DISCIPLINES FOR GREATER PERSPECTIVE, TO RELATE ALL FACETS OF A CULTURE TO THE INCIDENCE OF CRIME, AND TO MAKE MORE CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS. IT IS ARGUED THAT NO THEORY, MODEL, OR RESEARCH RESULT IS RELIABLE IF IT CANNOT BE VALIDATED ON THE BASIS OF A WORLD PERSPECTIVE. THE ARTICLE CONTAINS MANY FOOTNOTES, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (GLR)