Don C. Gibbons

Evaluatin the Impact of Juvenile Diversion Programs

One of the major current fads in criminal and juvenile justice programing is diversion of offenders. At the same time, little hard evidence exists in support of diversion policies. Nine studies of the outcomes of specific juvenile diversion programs are reviewed in this paper, along with an investigation of the impact of diversion programs upon the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles County. Most of these evaluation studies were flawed by small sample numbers and other methodological defects. As a result, it cannot yet be said that diversion arguments and proposals are buttressed by firm research support.

Some Critical Observations on Criminal Types and Criminal Careers

This article deals with offender typologies, which have been of interest to several generations of criminologists. A number of these efforts are reviewed, but major emphasis is placed on the authors “role-career” scheme. A variety of research findings produced in the past decade or so suggest that the typological approach has been relatively unfruitful. In general, “careers” in crime and deviance are encountered less frequently than is suggested by typologies.

Comment—Personality and crime: Non-issues, real issues, and a theory and research agenda

The Andrews and Wormith paper in this issue presents a detailed attack on mainstream criminologists for their failure to acknowledge the role of individual differences and personality factors in lawbreaking. The authors accuse sociological criminologists of “knowledge destruction.” In response, this paper concedes the basic point made by Andrews and Wormith but also argues that they overstate their case and engage in “knowledge distortion.” More important, the paper suggests some of the directions that ought to be pursued in future theorizing and research on this question.

Observations on the Development of Crime Categories

From the 1850s to the present, considerable criminological attention has focused on the development of theoretically-significant systems for classifying crime. This article reviews and attempts to evaluate a number of these efforts, and we conclude that further work on this basic task is needed. The latter part of the article explicates a conceptualfoundation for a crime pattern classification system, and offers a preliminary taxonomy of crime.

Program Evaluation in Correction

The recent increase in demands for correctional program evaluation, along with a technical literature on the subject, is reviewed. This paper argues that the first step in program evaluation often focuses on specification of the nature of the intervention effort to be assessed, including identification of its theoretical rationale. Evaluation research then proceeds to determine whether the program actually dealt with the offenders for whom it was intended, whether it delivered the appropriate services to them, and whether it had any impact on them. A good deal of research innovativeness is required in the evaluation of non-experimental correctional efforts.

Deviance, Crime, and the Greying of America:

This essay offers some conjectures about the nature and forms of deviance and criminality that are likely to be encountered in the decades ahead, as the “greying” of America continues. Traditional notions centered about the study of societal forms of deviance have become obsolete. Moreover, behavioral diversity of many forms has become so commonplace in recent years that social labeling or processual conceptions of deviance are in need of revision. Some evidence of the spread of social diversity is offered, along with some commentary on the broad forces behind the growth of diversity. The concluding portion of this essay includes a number of forecasts about the levels and forms of criminality that may be encountered in the decades ahead.

Book Reviews : The Juvenile Offender and the Law, Paul H. Hahn. Pp. 416. Cincinnati, W. H. Anderson, 1971.

More than half of the book deals with causal or etiological matters, including classification of juvenile offenders, child and adolescent psychology, family factors, middle-class delinquency, campus disorder, alcohol and drugs, sex ofEenses, and the role of the school in delinquency. The remainder covers the control and treatment of juvenile lawbreaking-delinquency statistics, ,police and juveniles, juvenile court philosophy and operations, due process for juveniles, and treatment of youthful offenders. In format, Paul Hahn’s book is much like a conventional delinquency textbook, differing largely in its lack of depth. For one thing, it does not refer to the voluminous research liter-