How criminologists who study biology are shunned by their field
– But what’s puzzling you, is the nature of my game. “Sympathy for The Devil” The Rolling Stones I am a criminologist by training, which means that I make my living trying to better understand the...
View ArticleWhat does science tell us about the so-called Ferguson effect?
American policing is in the midst of a challenge to its legitimacy. The police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO in the summer of 2014 led to a firestorm of social media attention focused on...
View ArticleFerguson Effect Detractors Are Wrong
Violent crime in many American cities began rising in the second half of 2014, after two decades of decline. The Major Cities Chiefs Association convened an emergency session in August 2015 to discuss...
View ArticleCriminology’s Wonderland: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About Crime is Wrong
When you say ‘hill’ the Queen interrupted, “I could show you hills, in comparison with which you’d call that a valley.” ‘No I shouldn’t’ said Alice, surprised at contradicting her at last: ‘a hill...
View ArticleThe Bermuda Triangle Part II: Dangerous Research & The Risks Worth Taking
Another clever word Sets off an unsuspecting herd And as you step back into line A mob jumps to their feet – “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid,” The Offspring The late J.P. Rushton represents one of the most...
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Does Religion Cause Violence?
The streets of small rural towns in United States are typically tranquil places, but they are especially still on Sunday mornings. On those mornings, people dutifully report to their local places of...
View ArticleIs Crime Genetic? Scientists Don’t Know Because They’re Afraid to Ask
The U.S. has made unprecedented strides in the fight against crime. Both violent and non-violent crime are way down from their highs in decades past. This is great news, of course, but the success...
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Is There a Biological Case for Criminal Justice Reform?
Tell a woman the story of Christ’s crucifixion, and if she doesn’t cry, she’s a witch. In the 1500s, women who failed this test were burned alive. The test—clearly and painfully faulty—was not publicly...
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Rethinking Gender, Sexuality, and Violence
Over the past two weeks, America has been rocked by the revelation that the Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein has engaged in numerous instances of sexual harassment and possibly even sexual...
View ArticleNo, There’s No Evidence of a Murder Wave Targeting Gay Americans
“Why Are Murders Of Gay And Bi Men Up A Staggering 400 Percent?” asks the headline atop Michelangelo Signorile’s new HuffPost column, shared at least 13,000 times so far “Hint: This Alarming Surge Has...
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Biosocial Criminology and the Lombrosian Paradox
Last October, Quillette published an article by Hal Conick, crisply abridging Robert Sapolsky’s biologically based argument for criminal justice reform. Sapolsky, a neurobiology professor at Stanford...
View ArticleAre Liberal Democracies ‘Rape Cultures’?
What are we to make of the claim that we inhabit a ‘rape culture’? Those making this claim seldom make it clear if they are being descriptive or expressive. A descriptive claim purports to tell us that...
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The Dangers of Ignoring Cognitive Inequality
On Sunday 28 April 1996, Martin Bryant was awoken by his alarm at 6am. He said goodbye to his girlfriend as she left the house, ate some breakfast, and set the burglar alarm before leaving his Hobart...
View ArticleThe Life of a Transgender Prisoner
Last month’s school shooting in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, claimed the life of an innocent child. Eight more were injured. In the way that this crime affects the victims and their families, the...
View ArticleSay It Ain’t So, Doc: How Should Martin Luther King Scholars Deal With the...
These are difficult days for students of Martin Luther King, Jr. The man many of us have dedicated long months and years to researching, often out of a profound sense of respect, is facing an...
View ArticleNeutralizing Ngo: The Apologetics of Antifascist Street Violence
In Politics and the English Language, George Orwell observed that “political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible.” He detailed how certain manners of diction are employed to...
View ArticleCanada’s Treatment of Indigenous Peoples Was Cruel. But Calling It an Ongoing...
Two months after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the public: “As his armies advance, whole districts are being exterminated. Scores of thousands,...
View ArticleNo, There’s No Evidence of a Murder Wave Targeting Gay Americans
“Why Are Murders Of Gay And Bi Men Up A Staggering 400 Percent?” asks the headline atop Michelangelo Signorile’s new HuffPost column, shared at least 13,000 times so far “Hint: This Alarming Surge Has...
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Biosocial Criminology and the Lombrosian Paradox
Last October, Quillette published an article by Hal Conick, crisply abridging Robert Sapolsky’s biologically based argument for criminal justice reform. Sapolsky, a neurobiology professor at Stanford...
View ArticleClik here to view.
America’s Black Communities Are Suffering. Violent Protests Will Make the...
Protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin—an act that prosecutors describe as murder—have devolved into violence. Numerous small businesses...
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