NCJ Number
226745
Journal
Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2009 Pages: 5-16
Date Published
February 2009
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the 2008 presidential address given by Robert Bursik from the University of Missouri, St. Louis to the American Society of Criminology on the present need for the past, specifically historical criminological research.
Abstract
Robert Bursik, Jr., from the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, addresses the American Society of Criminology emphasizing the need for contemporary researchers to not conduct their research without considering similar work conducted in earlier historical eras, that without would limit the scope of their conclusions. Bursik attempts to explain in his address that the knowledge that is generated today is not necessarily better or more insightful than that of our predecessors. He references the Dead Sea Scrolls as a metaphor to frame a discussion around a driven belief that criminology has generated bodies of theory and research of steadily increasing quality and creativity over time, making it safe to ignore earlier efforts. In his opinion, criminological work that has been forgotten or hidden from scholarly sight represents an untapped opportunity to generate intellectual advances and discussions, as did the Scrolls. References