THEORY COMPREHENSIVE EXAM: READING LIST AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING

June 2016

The comprehensive examination builds on the ideas covered and readings assigned in the two required Theory courses in our Department’s Ph.D. program curriculum. Importantly, the comprehensive exam is not merely a test of what students may have learned in these two courses. Rather, the comprehensive examination includes an understanding of the readings covered in these courses in addition to a test of the integration of knowledge drawn from other graduate courses taken in our Department and readings conducted outside of course work.

Students are expected to read, understand, and include in their responses tests of theories that have been undertaken as well as classic and contemporary readings on the theories themselves (i.e., their assumptions, modifications, extensions, etc.). These responses should be informed by literature drawn from books and academic journals. Beyond the reading materials from the two required Theory courses, students must also examine the main journals in the field over the past five years to find and then read articles that assess the theories of . Although not exhaustive, these journals are: Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Social Forces. Other journals that should be examined are: Crime and Delinquency, Journal of , Criminal Justice & Behavior; Deviant Behavior, and Theoretical Criminology.

When studying, students should be able to integrate theory and research. Students are expected to know the “empirical status” of each theory; that is, to what extent do existing research studies support each theory? More specific, it is important that students know the theories accurately (e.g., what the theory argues; how theorists within a tradition differ from one another; how a theory has developed and changed over time; what are the strengths and weaknesses of each theory, possible linkages to policy, issues surrounding the theory, etc.). In addition, students should be knowledgeable of the major points or conclusions that can be drawn from existing studies. Further, in conveying an answer, an effort must be made to discuss research studies in detail (e.g., the sample and measures used, specific findings, the reason why the study illuminates an important aspect about the theory). While textbooks can aid in providing a base understanding of theory, do not rely or heavily cite textbooks on theory as sources, rather cite the original work or research.

Below is a listing of readings covered in Theory I and Theory II, grouped by area and by theoretical perspective. Again, the list is a guide and is not exhaustive; as detailed above, you are expected to supplement the readings by incorporating reading and research from outside the two classes. You should have already read the material listed below from taking the two theory courses. In preparing for the comprehensive examination students should re-read these materials in order to obtain a better grasp of each theory, issues associated with the theory, etc. and then elaborate by incorporating research not covered in the class, but can be found in material from other courses and material from reviews of the journals listed above in addition to any others that have recent and relevant theory tests..

Reading Reference List

Books

Akers, R. (2009) Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime & . Transaction Publishers.

Gottfredson, M. and T. Hirsch. (1990) A General Theory of Crime. Stanford.

Hirschi, T. (2004). Causes of Delinquency. Transaction Press.

Kornhauser, R. (1978). Social Sources of Delinquency. University of Chicago Press.

Kubrin, C., T. Stucky, and M. Krohn (2009). Researching Theories of Crime and Deviance. Oxford University Press.

Laub, J. and R. Sampson (2004) Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives. Harvard University Press.

Lynch, M. and R. Michalowski (2006) The New Primer in Radical Criminology: Critical Perspectives of Crime, Power and Identity. 4th (ed.) Criminal Justice Press.

Messner, S., and R. Rosenfeld (2012). Crime and the American Dream. Cengage Learning.

Mosher, C., T. Miethe, and T. Hart. (2011). The Mismeasure of Crime. Sage Publications.

Sampson, R.J., and Laub, J.H. (1993) Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vold, G., T. Bernard, and J. Snipes. Theoretical Criminology. Oxford Press. Any edition of Vold, Vold & Bernard or Bernard, Snipes & Gerould.

Elements of Theory/ Policy Making: How Relevant is Criminology?

Bernard, T. (1990) “Twenty Years of Testing Theories: What Have We Learned and Why?” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 27(4): 325-347.

Gibbs, J. (1985) “The Methodology of Theory Construction in Criminology” in R. Meier (ed.) Theoretical Methods in Criminology. Sage.

Gibbs, J. (1987). “The State of Criminological Theory”. Criminology, 25(4): 821.

Hirschi, T. and H.C. Selvin (1967) Delinquency Research. NY: Free Press. (Reissued in 1996 – Transaction Publishing.

Leavitt, G. (1999). “Criminological Theory as an Art Form: Implications for Criminal Justice Policy”. Crime & Delinquency, 45: 389.

Weisburd, D. and A. Piquero (2008). “How Well Do Criminologists Explain Crime? Statistical Modeling in Published Studies”. Crime and Justice, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 453-502

Measurement of Crime

Farnworth, M., T. Thornberry, M. Krohn, and A. Lizotte (1994). “Measurement in the Study of Class and Delinquency”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32-61.

Hindelang, M.J., T. Hirschi, and J.G. Weis. 1981. Measuring Delinquency. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

———. 1979. “Correlates of delinquency: The illusion of discrepancy between self-report and official measures”. American Sociological Review 44:995–1014

Kubrin, C. and G. Ousey (2009). “Exploring the Connection between Immigration and Violent Crime in US Cities, 1980-2000”. Social Problems, 56(3): 447-473.

Levitt, S. (2004) “Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 18(1): 163–190.

Mosher, C., T. Miethe, and T. Hart. (2011). The Mismeasure of Crime. Sage Publications.

Peeples, F. and R. Loeber (1994). “Do Individual Factors and Neighborhood Context Explain Ethnic Differences in ”. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 10(2): 141.

Thornberry, T. and M. Krohn (2000). “The Self-Report for Measuring Delinquency and Crime”. Criminal Justice, 4 (1): 33-83.

Tittle, C. and R. Meier (1990). “Specifying the SES/Delinquency Relationship”. Criminology, 28: 271- 299.

Uggen, C. and S. McElrath (2013) “Six Social Sources of the U.S. . White Paper.

Classical and Positive Traditions in Criminology

Gottfredson, M. and T.Hirschi (1987). “The Positivist Tradition”. In M. Gottfredson and T. Hirschi (Eds.), Positive Criminology (pp. 9-22). Sage.

Vold, G., T. Bernard, and J. Snipes (1998). “Classical Criminology” Ch 2. 14,in Theoretical Criminology. Oxford Press. Any edition of Vold, Vold & Bernard or Bernard, Snipes & Gerould.

Taylor,I., P. Walton, and J. Young (1973). “Classical Criminology and the Positivist Revolution”. In Taylor, Walton, & Young (Eds.), The New Criminology for a Social Theory of Deviance. Ch. 1, 1. Harper Press. Rational Choice, , Linkage to Policy

Nagin, N. (2013). “Deterrence in the Twenty-First Century”. Crime and Justice, 42(1), 199-263.

Piliavin, I., R. Gartner, C. Thorton, and R. Matsueda (1986). “Crime, Deterrence, and Rational Choice”. American Sociological Review, 51: 101.

Piquero, A. and G. Progarsky (2002). “Beyond Stafford and Warr’s Reconceptualization of Deterrence: Personal and Vicarious Experiences, Impulsivity, and Offending Behavior”. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 39(2): 153-186.

Sherman, L.(1993) “Defiance, Deterrence, and Irrelevance: A Theory of the Criminal Sanction.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 30 (December):445-473.

Stafford, M. and M. Warr. (1993). “A Reconceptualization of General and Specific Deterrence”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30:123-35.

Routine Activities/Life Style Theory

Cohen, L. and M. Felson (1979). “Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach”. American Sociological Review, 44: 588-608.

Garofalo, J. (1987). “Reassessing the Lifestyle Model of Criminal Victimization”. In M. Gottfredson and T. Hirschi (Eds.), Positive Criminology (pp. 9-22). Sage.

Mustaine, E. and R.Tweksbury (1998) “Predicting Risks of Larceny Theft Victimization: A Routine Activity Analysis Using Refined Lifestyle Measures” Criminology, 36 (4): 829.

Biological/Bio-Social Perspectives

Beaver, K.M. (2009). : A primer. Foreword & chapter 1

Barnes, J.C., K. Beaver, and B. Boutwell (2011). “Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavioral Genetic Analysis”. Criminology, 49(4): 923-954.

Barnes, J.C., J. Wright, B. Boutwell, J. Schwartz, E. Connolly, J. Nedelec, and K. Beaver (2014). “Demonstrating the Validity of Twin Research in Criminology”. Criminology, 00(0): 1-39.

Burt, C. and R. Simmons (2014). “Pulling Back the Curtain on Heritability Studies: Biosocial Criminology in the Postgenomic Era”. Criminology, 52(2): 223.

Burt, C. and R. Simmons (2015). “Heritability Studies in the Postgenomic Era: The Fatal Flaw is Conceptual” Criminology, 53(1): 103-112.

Mears, D. and J. Cochran (2013). “What is the effect of IQ on offending?”. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 40(11): 1280-1300.

Wright, J., J. Barnes, B. Boutwell, J. Schwartz, E. Connolly, J. Nedelec, and K. Beaver (2015) “Mathematical Proof is not Minutiae and Irreducible Complexity is not a Theory: A Final Response to Burt and Simons and a Call to Criminologists” Criminology, 53(1): 113-120. Merton- Structural Strain

Cullen, F. and S. Messner (2007) “The making of criminology revisited An oral history of Merton’s paradigm” Theoretical Criminology,11(1): 5-37.

Farnworth, M. and M. Leiber (1989). “Strain Theory Revisited: Economic Goals, Educational Means, and Delinquency”. American Sociological Review, 54(2): 263-274.

Merton, R. (1938). “Social Structure and Anomie”. American Sociological Review 3(5): 672-682.

Institutional Anomie Strain

Chamlin, M., and J. Cochran (2007). “An Evaluation of the Assumptions that Underlie Institutional Anomie Theory”. Theoretical Criminology, 11(1): 39-61.

Messner, S., and R. Rosenfeld (2012). Crime and the American Dream. Cengage Learning.

Messner, S. and R. Rosenfeld (2006). “The Present and Future of Institutional-Anomie Theory”. Taking Stock, 15: 127.

General Strain Theory

Agnew, R. (1992). “Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency”. Criminology, 30(1): 47-76.

Agnew, R. (2012). “Reflection on A Revised Strain Theory of Delinquency”. Social Forces, 91(1): 33- 38.

Suggested supplemental reading: Agnew, Robert (2006) Pressured Into Crime: An Overview of General Strain Theory. Los Angeles: Roxbury Press.

Crime as Learned Behavior

Akers, R. (2009) Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime & Deviance. Transaction Publishers.

Akers, R., M. Krohn, L. Lanza-Kaduce, and M. Radosevich (1979). “Social Learning and Deviant Behavior: A Specific Test of a General Theory”. American Sociological Review, 44(4): 636-655.

Costello, B. (1997). “On the Logical Adequacy of Cultural Deviance Theories”. Theoretical Criminology, 1(4): 403-428.

Haynie, D. (2001). “Delinquent Peers Revisited: Does Network Structure Matter?”. American Journal of Sociology, 106(4): 1013-1057.

Haynie,D. and D. Osgood (2005). “Reconsidering Peers and Delinquency: How do Peers Matter?”. Social Forces, 84(2): 1109-1130.

Krohn, M. (1999). “Social Learning Theory: The Continuing Development of a Perspective”. Theoretical Criminology, 3(4): 462-476.

Matsueda, R. (1988). “The Current State of Theory”. Crime & Deliquency, 34(3): 277-306.

Matsueda, R. (1997). “Cultural Deviance Theory: The Remarkable Persistence of a Flawed Term”. Theoretical Criminology, 1(4): 429-452.

Matsueda, R. (2014). “Social Structure, Culture, and Crime: Assessing Kornhauser’s Challenge to Criminology”. Challenging Criminological Theory, 117-143.

Subcultural Explanations

McGloin, J., C. Schreck, E. Stewart, G. Ousey (2011). “Predicting the Violent Offender: The Discriminant Validity of the of Violence”. Criminology, 49(3): 767-792.

Stewart, E. and R. Simons (2006). “Structure and Culture in African American Adolescent Violence: A Partial Test of the ‘Code of the Street’ Thesis”. Justice Quarterly, 23(1): 1-33.

Be also familiar with Wolfgang and Ferracuti’s (1958) subculture of violence perspective and related research

Social Disorganization Theory

Kirk, D. and J. Laub (2010). “Neighborhood Change and Crime in the Modern Metropolis”. Crime and Justice, 39(1): 441-502.

Kubrin, C. and R. Weitzer (2003). “New Directions in Social Disorganization Theory”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(4): 374-402.

McCarty, W. and D. Hepworth (2013). “Mobile Home Parks and Crime: Does Proximity Matter?”. Journal of Crime and Justice, 36(3): 319-333.

Ritzer, G. (1992). “Emile Durkheim” Ch. 3. Sociological Theory. McGraw-Hill.

Sampson, R. and B. Groves (1989). “Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social Disorganization Theory”. American Journal of Sociology, 94: 774-802.

Sampson, R., J. Morenoff, and F. Earls (1999). “Beyond Social Capital: Spatial Dynamics of for Children”. American Sociological Review, 64: 633-660.

Sampson, R. and W. Wilson (1995). “Toward a Theory of Race, Crime and Urban Inequality”. In J. Hagan and R. Peterson (Eds.), Crime and Inequality (pp. 37-54). Stanford University Press.

Suggested reading: Anything by Robert Sampson, John Hipp, Robert Bursik

Social Control Theory

Greenberg, D. (1999). “The Weak Strength of ”. Crime & Delinquency, 45(1): 66.

Hirschi, T. (2004). Causes of Delinquency. Transaction Press.

Kempf, K. (1993). “The Empirical Status of Hirschi’s Control Theory”. In F. Adler and W. Laufer (Eds.), New Directions in Criminological Theory, vol. 4. (pp.143-185). Transaction Publishers.

Kornhauser, R. (1978). Social Sources of Delinquency. University of Chicago Press.

Self-Control Theory/Redefined

Gottfredson, M. and T. Hirsch. (1990) A General Theory of Crime. Stanford.

Grasmick, H., C. Tittle, R. Bursik, and B. Arneklev (1993). “Testing the Core Empirical Implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30: 5-29.

Hirschi, T. and M. Gottfredson (1993). “Commentary: Testing the General Theory of Crime”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30(1): 47-54.

Hirschi, T. (2002). “The Craft of Criminology: Selected Papers”. (J. H. Laub, Ed.). New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Transaction.

Hirschi, T. (2004). “Self-control and Crime”. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (pp. 537-552). New York, NY: Guilford.

Piquero, A. and J. Bouffard (2007). “Something Old, Something New: A Preliminary Investigation of Hirschi’s Redefined Self‐Control”. Justice Quarterly, 24: 1-27.

Pratt, T. and F. Cullen (2000). “The Empirical Status of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime: A Meta-Analysis”. Criminology, 38: 931-964.

Situation Action Theory

Wikstrom, P. (2014). “Situational Action Theory”. Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 4845-4852. Wikstrom has other articles on this perspective.

Symbolic Interaction/Labeling and Societal Reaction Theory

Bernburg, J.G. and M. Krohn. (2003). “Labeling, Life Chances, and Adult Crime: The Direct and Indirect Effects of Official Intervention in Adolescence on Crime in Early Adulthood.” Criminology 41:1287-1318.

Bernburg, J.G., M. Krohn, and C. Rivera (2006) “Official Labeling, Criminal Embeddedness, and Subsequent Delinquency A Longitudinal Test of ”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 43(1): 67-88.

Paternoster, R. and L. Iovanni (1989). “The Labeling Perspective and Delinquency: An Elaboration of the Theory and an Assessment of the Evidence”. Justice Quarterly, 6(3): 359-394.

Ritzer, G. (1992). “Symbolic Interaction” Ch. 9. Sociological Theory. McGraw-Hill.

Wiley, S. and F. Esbensen (2013). “The Effect of Police Contact: Does Official Intervention Result in Deviance Amplification?”. Crime & Delinquency, 20(10): 1-25

Reintegrative Shaming

Schaible, L. and L. Hughes (2011). “Crime, Shame, Reintegration, and Cross-National Homicide: A Partial Test of Reintegrative Shaming Theory”. The Sociological Quarterly, 52: 104-131.

Suggestive reading: Braithwaite, John (2001) “Reintegrative Shaming.” Pp. 242-251in Raymond Paternoster and Ronet Bachman (eds.), Explaining Criminals and Crime: Essays in Contemporary Criminological Theory. Los Angeles: Roxbury.

Developmental and Life Course Approaches to Crime

Barnes, J.C., K. Beaver, and B. Boutwell (2011). “Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavioral Genetic Analysis”. Criminology, 49(4): 923-954.

Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1996). “The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior”. In J. D. Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and Crime: Current Theories. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University.

Dong, B. and M. Krohn (2015). “Exploring Intergenerational Discontinuity in Problem Behavior: Bad Parents With Good Children”. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 13(2): 99-122.

Giordano, P. C., Cernkovich, S. A., & Rudolph, J. L. (2002). “Gender, crime, and desistance: Toward a theory of cognitive transformation”. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 990-1064.

Laub, J. and R. Sampson (2004) Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives. Harvard University Press.

Moffitt, T. (1993). “Adolescence-Limited and Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Taxonomy”. Psychological Review, 100(4): 674-701. Sampson, R.J., and Laub, J.H. (1993) Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Thornberry, T. and M. Krohn (2005). “Applying Interactional Theory to the Explanation of Continuity and Change in Antisocial Behavior”. Integrated Development and Life-Course Theories of Offending, 183-209. Transaction Publishing.

Suggested readings: Work by Piquero, Farrington, Jennings, Paternoster, Nagin, Elder, Loeber

Conflict//Radical Theory

Lynch, M. and R. Michalowski (2006) The New Primer in Radical Criminology: Critical Perspectives of Crime, Power and Identity. 4th (ed.) Criminal Justice Press.

Hagan, J., J. Simpson, and A.R. Gills (1987). “Class in the Household: A Power-Control Theory of Gender and Delinquency”. American Journal of Sociology, 92(4): 788-816.

Vold, G. (1958). “Conflict/Marxist Criminology” Ch. 15, Ch. 16. Theoretical Criminology. Oxford Press.

Theory Development, Theory Integration, Theory Elaboration

Akers, R (1989). “A Social Behaviorist’s Perspective on Integration of Theories of Crime and Deviance”. SUNY Press.

Hirschi, T. (1989). “Exploring Alternatives to Integrated Theory”. Theoretical Integration in the Study of Deviance and Crime: Problems and Prospects, 37-49.

Liska, A., M. Krohn, and S. Messner (1989). “Strategies and Requisites for Theoretical Integration in the Study of Crime and Deviance”. Theoretical Integration in the Study of Deviance and Crime: Problems and Prospects, 1-19. SUNY Press.

Muftic, L. (2009). “Macro-Micro Theoretical Integration: An Unexplored Theoretical Frontier”. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology, 1(2): 33-71.