Social Change and the Interpretation of Research

Bibliographic Data

ID9680650
AuthorsMichael Wadsworth (Medical Research Council, corresponding author), M E J Wadsworth
Year1981
Volume19
Issue1
Pages53-76
Publication date1981-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-1384 • E-ISSN: 1745-9125
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-9125.1981.tb00404.x
OpenAlexW2008054914
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited18

This article aims to demonstrate the value of time as a variable in the study of causes of crime, and considers its usefulness in assessing the relative importance of personal attribute and social pressure hypotheses. Historical reviews of changes both in certain aspects of childrearing and in popular views of their likely consequences for the adult life of the child show an association between these changes, and changes in research findings about causes of crime. Findings seem to have reflected contemporary popular views of the importance of childhood experience, and as these changed so too did research findings. Two interpretations are discussed. First, have investigators been so much influenced by contemporary opinions that their work has been biased, either in selection of measures or in interpretation and analysis of findings? Second, perhaps histori‐cal reviews show that society's definition of “criminal,” both in the definition of law‐breaking and in the description of the individual, is rooted in its own contemporary culture. Implications of these two possible interpretations for present criminological research are discussed

Contemporary society · Criminal behavior · Criminology · Interpretation (philosophy · Selection (genetic algorithm · Social science · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Psychology · Social Psychology

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