The Great American Search: Causes of Crime 1876-1976

Abstract

Biology, psychology, and sociology have suc cessively dominated American criminology over the last 100 years. Given that the biological and psychological ap proaches were both oriented toward the characteristics of the offender, they were easy to test in principle, and their eventual decline is now interpreted as a consequence of their failure to survive empirical tests. With the rise of the sociological view, there was a corresponding decline in testability, especially with reference to the characteristics of the offender, and there followed a lengthy period of theoretical development virtually independent of research. The sociological theories prominent during this period stressed the multiplicity of cultures in American life, on the one hand, and the differential distribution of opportunity to achieve common goals, on the other. With the rise of large- scale research conducted by sociologists, these theories were themselves subject to test, and theories more closely grounded on the results of research became possible. At the moment, sociological theorizing focuses on the effects of the processing of offenders by agencies of social control.