Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
7-1985
Abstract
The discipline of criminology has been dominated since the turn of the century by an explanatory paradigm' known as 'positivism'. The distinctive features of that paradigm have been both substantive and methodological. On the substantive side 'positivist criminology' has been marked by a commitment to the explanation of criminal behaviour (and deviance generally) in terms of characteristics of the individual. Thus positivist criminology has been notable for its explanations of criminal behaviour in terms of gross bodily features, patterns of child-rearing, genetic defect, and idiosyncratic personality traits. On the methodological side positivist criminology has been marked by a preference for scientific method in the evaluation of theory and scientific ideas in the formulation of that theory.' By and large these methodological predilections have meant assigning a primacy both to the role of systematic observation in the evaluation of theory and to the avoidance of theoretical assumptions whose validity could not be checked by recourse to observation.
Discipline
Criminal Law | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance
Publication
Legal Studies
Volume
5
Issue
2
First Page
191
Last Page
204
ISSN
0261-3875
Publisher
Wiley: 24 months
Citation
WEATHERBURN, Don and FINDLAY, Mark.
Positivism, Empiricism and Criminology Theory. (1985). Legal Studies. 5, (2), 191-204.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2074
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Comments
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