U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

TYPOLOGIES IN COMPARATIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH

NCJ Number
53784
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (FALL 1977) Pages: 103-110
Author(s)
G M JANEKSELA
Date Published
1977
Length
8 pages
Annotation
THE POTENTIAL USE OF TYPOLOGIES IN THE INVESTIGATION OF CRIME AND CRIME CONTROL SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE IS ILLUSTRATED BY GIVING EXAMPLES OF TYPOLOGY CONSTRUCTION AND, THEN, APPLYING THEM TO A HYPOTHETICAL PROBLEM.
Abstract
AFTER POINTING OUT THAT THEORY CONSTRUCTION IS DIFFICULT AT THE WORLD LEVEL BECAUSE OF THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURES AND THE LACK OF RELIABLE DATA, TYPOLOGIES ARE SUGGESTED FOR MULTINATIONAL CRIME STUDIES. TYPOLOGIES ARE DEFINED, THE USE OF SUBSYSTEMS AND THEORIES WITHIN THE TYPOLOGY STRUCTURE IS EXPLAINED, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE TYPOLOGICAL METHOD TO A COMPARISON OF EASTERN VERSUS WESTERN NATIONS IS ILLUSTRATED. THE DISCUSSION ALSO BRIEFLY COVERS CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS, THE CONSTRUCTION OF TYPOLOGIES TO EXAMINE DICHOTOMOUS TYPES, AND THE USE OF TYPOLOGIES FOR ANALYSIS. A MODEL IS GIVEN FOR CLASSIFICATION OF MAJOR TYPES OF CRIME ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL WHILE ANOTHER MODEL ILLUSTRATES LEGAL SYSTEM TYPES. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT A WORLD STUDY WILL NEED BOTH A CRIME TYPOLOGY AND A LEGAL SYSTEM TYPOLOGY BECAUSE EACH SYSTEM AFFECTS THE OTHER. THE USE OF SUCH A SYSTEM FOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS IN WORLDWIDE RESEARCH IS URGED. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)