Politics, Research Design, and the ‘Architecture’ of Criminal Careers Studies

Bibliographic Data

ID8400147
AuthorsStephen Farrall (0000-0001-9783-4447, University of Derby, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume61
Issue6
Pages1575-1591
Publication date2021-10-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjc/azab033
OpenAlexW3158040784
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited44

Criminal careers research is one of the bedrocks—if not the bedrock—of criminology. It remains a key focal point of criminological research and has embraced ideas and theories from sociology, psychology, psychiatry and urban and community studies. Despite the widening of the landscape of what might be termed ‘the criminological enterprise’ (to include victimology, prisons research, punishment, deterrence and environmental criminology), criminal careers (now differentiated into studies of onset, persistence and desistance) remains a key plank of criminology. This article critiques the research design of longitudinal studies of criminal careers, arguing that a key explanatory factor has been consistently overlooked in criminal careers research due, in part, to the research design of such studies. In focussing on the role of politically motivated changes to economic policies and the restructuring of the industrial base this produced, I empirically relate individual offending careers to politics in ways very few have done before. The article touches upon a series of suggestions for how empirical studies of criminal careers might be improved

Criminology · Empirical research · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Restructuring · Sociology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law

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Open DOIOpen Access