NCJ Number
146020
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1993) Pages: 513-525
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The author offers thoughts on how criminological research can help reduce crime, and comments on colleagues' essays.
Abstract
Most address the need to make criminological theories more context-specific. In some ways, this is needed, but in others, a broader perspective is required. Policy-relevant theory must study the stage as well as the action that takes place on it. Law, governmental, social, and economic institutions set the stage for crime and delinquency. Research can be most useful if geared not just toward determining what laws should be, but how they can be effectively administered. Cost-effectiveness is an important consideration in anticrime strategy; certain acts may be more effectively dealt with through condemnation than through illegalization. As discussed by Braithwaite and Sherman, the way laws are administered can contribute to or detract from crime control effectiveness. McCord rightly approves of behavioral models that assume that criminals, like everyone else, are motivated by perceived self- interests. Felson points out that the occurrence of crime requires the congruence of proclivity and opportunity. Experiments and longitudinal studies of high-risk groups can improve understanding of crime. Information on policy and community variables, as well as on individuals and groups, is needed to produce well rounded results. 9 endnotes and 19 references