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Science, Public Policy, and the Career Paradigm

NCJ Number
110129
Journal
Criminology Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1988) Pages: 37-55
Author(s)
M Gottfredson; T Hirschi
Date Published
1988
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Scientific criminology and sound public policy should reject the 'career' approach to crime.
Abstract
Although the concept of a 'career' is appropriate when applied to a profession, the concept of a 'criminal career' as used by Blumstein et al. cannot be derived from a conception of crime or a theory of criminality. There is no empirical support for the view that the time has come to apply career terminology to the study of crime. The effort to apply this concept to criminological data is discouraging. Prior research agrees that the correlates of crime are robust over method of measurement, crime types, crime seriousness, and even limitations of range. This places a heavy burden on those who argue that the correlates of crime depend on distinctions among incidence, prevalence, and frequency. Empirical data on age and crime are not properly interpreted by the career model. Supporters of the career paradigm emphasize the need for cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Data unaccompanied by substantive concepts, however, is of little value. Interviews of informants knowledgeable about the matter at issue would be a better source upon which to base understanding and policy. 2 tables and 33 references.