Addams, Jane.

Anderson, Nels.

Beccaria, Cesare.

Often considered to be the "father" of criminology, Beccaria was the most important representative of what is known as the Classical School of criminology.  His On Crimes and Punishments (1764) sought to apply Enlightenment social contract theory to issues of crime and punishment.  Walk through his version of social contract theory, consider his arguments for the proportionality of punishments, or review Beccaria's overall argument.

 

Becker, Howard.

Labeling theorist; ethnographer; jazz musician; author of Outsiders. Pay Howie a visit at Howie's Home Page... but do your homework!

Bentham, Jeremy.

Founder of the school of utilitarianism, and traditionally considered a member of the Classical School of criminology.   Like Beccaria, Bentham believed that human nature was hedonistic and that punishments ought therefore to be based on deterrence, but he rejected Beccaria's social contract theory.  View his embalmed body at University College London—and learn about the strange fate of Bentham's head!

 

Brockway, Zebulon Reed.

America's first professional penologist, Brockway was instrumental in translating the ideas of the Positivist School of criminology into actual correctional institutions. He is most famous for his pioneering work in establishing New York State's Elmira Reformatory, his championing of rehabilitation as the primary goal of the prison, and for his forceful arguments in favor of indeterminate sentencing. Explore Brockway's thought in the Crimetheory Archive.

Burgess, Ernest.

Comte, Auguste.

Introduced the concept of "positivism."  Comte theorized that humanity had developed through three ages: from (1) premodern "absolutism," characterized as the over-involvement of the state with its citizens' lives; through (2) the "negative" freedoms granted by Enlightenment thinkers such as Beccaria, excessively limiting state power over its citizens on the basis of abstract concepts of human "freedom" or "rights." Comte believed that (3) a new "positive" age was dawning, which would combine the best of the prior ages: a society which allowed for many individual freedoms but which would be overseen by a hierarchy of technical "managers."  In such an order, "modern" science would replace "premodern" religion as the knowledge that ordered society.
  

Durkheim, Émile.

Ferri, Enrico.

Author of one of the first textbooks on Criminal Sociology, Ferri extended the positivism of Lombroso to legal and social issues. Walk a mile in his shoes.

Freud, Sigmund.  

Goffman, Erving.

Hobbes, Thomas.

The classic statement of social contract theory can be found in Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, written in 1651 during the English Revolution.  Beccaria's version of the argument differs from Hobbes' in using principles of utility to establish limits to governmental authority over the individual.  (For a quick survey of the many ways Hobbes and his social contract argument have been recently interpreted, see Richard Tuck's little volume in the Oxford "Past Masters" Series.)

 

Jefferson, Thomas.

Author of The Declaration of Independence, which employs social contract theory to justify the right of English colonists to reconstruct their government.  Tour Jefferson's extraordinary estate of Monticello, or explore an archive of his writings.  He currently plays outfield.

 

Lindesmith, Alfred.

Lombroso, Cesare.

Founder of the "Positivist School" of Criminology.

Marx, Karl. 

Mead, George Herbert . 

Merton, Robert K. 

Park, Robert.

Schuessler, Karl.

Student of Sutherland, and chair of his Department of Sociology at Indiana University throughout the 60's. Now in retirement, has released a new Dixieland Jazz CD. . . a potential collaboration with Becker?!?!

Sheldon, William.



  

Sutherland, Edwin H.

Trained at the University of Chicago, Sutherland founded the interdisciplinary program for the study of criminology and criminal law and became the chair of the influencial school of sociology at Indiana University.  His differential association theory emphasized the importance of locality, context, and culture for explanations of crime and deviance.  His many illustrious students include Albert Cohen, Lloyd Ohlin, Karl Schuessler, and erstwhile disciple Donald Cressey.

Tönnies, Ferdinand.

Wilson, James Q.

Prolific political scientist, perhaps best known for his Crime and Human Nature (1985 written with Richard J. Hernnstein), a comprehensive survey of etiological approaches to criminality.  Wilson is Professor Emeritus of the James A. Collins Chair at UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

Wilson, William Julius.