Richard A. Wright

The most‐cited scholars and works in police studies

Although numerous studies recently have appeared that identify the most‐cited scholars and works in the general criminology and criminal justice literature and in several specialty areas, no previous citation study has specifically examined the police studies literature. Through an analysis of 370 articles and research notes appearing from 1991 to 1995 in the areas of police studies, published in Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and four academic periodicals devoted to police studies, we list the 50 most‐cited scholars and the 36 most‐cited works. The lists of the most‐cited scholars and works in the specialty area of police studies are compared to general lists taken from leading criminology and criminal justice journals and introductory textbooks. We conclude with some thoughts about the relevance of citation analysis to specialists in police studies.

The most-cited scholars and works in critical criminology

Previous studies that reported the most-cited scholars and works in criminology and criminal justice journals and textbooks neglected the contributions of critical criminologists to crime and justice scholarship. This paper extends citation analysis to the study of critical criminology. Through an examination of 18 books published from 1980 to 1997 and three journals published from 1991 to 1995, we list the 50 most-cited scholars in critical criminology, the 50 most-cited critical criminologists, and the 25 most-cited works. The most-cited scholars and works in critical criminology are compared to similar lists from mainstream criminology. The paper concludes with some thoughts about the importance of citation analysis in critical criminology.

Recent changes in the most-cited scholars in criminology A comparison of textbooks and journals

Abstract This article reports the fifty-nine most-cited scholars in twenty-two introductory criminology textbooks published from 1994–98. Comparisons over time of the citation patterns in criminology textbooks and in leading American criminology journals show considerable changes among the most-cited scholars. These changes are attributed to trends in the coverage of various research specializations in criminology. Volatility in the lists of the most-cited scholars over time justifies further studies of citation patterns in criminology and criminal justice.

Taboo until today? The coverage of biological arguments in criminology textbooks, 1961 to 1970 and 1987 to 1996

In American criminology throughout most of the twentieth century, biological arguments that link biochemistry, genetics, and/or neurophysiology to crime have been viewed as taboo: unthinkable and unmentionable. Despite this reputation, biological perspectives have resurged in the last two decades, reshaping theory and research in criminology. This article examines the changes in the taboo image of biological arguments in fifty-five introductory criminology textbooks: twenty published from 1961 to 1970 and thirty-five appearing from 1987 to 1996. The data show that the taboo surrounding biocriminology appears to be diminishing in textbooks: Newer texts devote more coverage to biological perspectives and are more likely to claim that there is at least some empirical evidence supporting these arguments. Furthermore, criminology textbooks that embrace interdisciplinary orientations are less likely to depict biological arguments as taboo than books that endorse sociological, and especially critical sociological, orientations.

Left Out? The coverage of critical perspectives in introductory criminology textbooks, 1990–1999

DeKeseredy and Schwartz have criticized introductory criminology textbooks published in the United States for their ‘poor treatment’ of critical/radical perspectives. This paper subjects this criticism to empirical analysis by studying the coverage of critical perspectives in 34 introductory criminology textbooks published from 1990 to 1999. Specifically, I examine how the coverage of critical perspectives in the textbooks is influenced by: 1) the theoretical orientations of the texts; 2) the positions of the texts on debate over conflict and consensus theories of law; and 3) the positions of the texts on the evidence supporting critical perspectives. This analysis shows that critical/radical perspectives in general, but in particular recent developments in critical criminology (including critical feminism, left realism, peacemaking criminology and postmodern criminology) are often ‘left out’ of contemporary criminology textbooks.

Citations to critical criminologists in introductory criminology textbooks

This paper examines the citation patterns to critical criminologists in 25 introductory criminology textbooks published from 1992 to 1996. We identify the 30 most‐cited critical criminologists in the textbooks. By comparing our findings to an earlier study that lists the most‐cited scholars in publications specifically devoted to critical criminology, we evalaute and rank the 25 textbooks by how they cite and cover critical criminologists. Our analysis uncovers several prominent scholars and perspectives in critical criminology that are inadequately recognized and insufficiently discussed in the textbooks.

INVISIBLE INFLUENCE: A CITATION ANALYSIS OF CRIME AND JUSTICE ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN LEADING SOCIOLOGY JOURNALS

ABSTRACT Although research consistently ranks leading sociology periodicals among the most prestigious places to publish in criminology and criminal justice, no recent citation study has examined these journals. Through an analysis of 107 articles and research notes appearing from 1991 to 1997 in four prominent general-interest sociology journals, we list the 50 most- cited scholars and the 25 most-cited works. We discovered many influential scholars and works that were invisible in previous citation studies that examined only leading criminology and criminal justice journals. By neglecting prominent sociology journals, previous citation researchers have misrepresented the influence of scholarship on crime and justice.

The most‐cited scholars in criminology and criminal justice textbooks, 1989 to 1993

Recent citation analysis studies of criminology and criminal justice journals have shifted from identifying the most‐cited scholars in criminology or criminal justice to combining data sets to report the most‐cited scholars in criminology and criminal justice periodicals. So far, however, a companion group of citation analyses of criminology and criminal justice textbooks have not combined data sets, instead listing the most‐cited scholars in either criminology textbooks or criminal justice textbooks. Here the data sets from two citation analyses of textbooks are combined and reanalyzed to identify the 16 most‐cited scholars in 39 criminology and criminal justice textbooks published from 1989 to 1993. The 16 most‐cited scholars in the textbooks are an elite group which has made important contributions to the study of the etiology of crime and to applied research on the institutions of justice.

“Mostly male and American”: The reporting of women and crime scholarship in introductory criminology textbooks

Female scholars often criticize the field of criminology for being male‐dominated. We study this claim by examining if the dissemination of published research findings in criminology is affected by gender. A study of prominent women and crime scholars shows that recent criminology textbooks, when compared to women and crime publications, are more likely to cite and to discuss male researchers than females. Because textbook authors also largely ignore the contributions of women and crime scholars who reside outside the United States, we argue that the reporting of women and crime scholarship in the books is “mostly male and American.”

RED-PENCILED: THE NEGLECT OF CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN INTRODUCTORY CRIMINAL JUSTICE TEXTBOOKS

ABSTRACT Several commentators have complained that critical criminology is neglected in mainstream publications in criminology and criminal justice. We examined this criticism through an empirical analysis of the coverage of critical criminology in 27 introductory criminal justice textbooks published from 1990 to 1999. Our data show that criminal justice textbooks devoted less coverage to critical perspectives than recent introductory criminology textbooks. The theoretical orientations of criminal justice textbooks (critical or mainstream) strongly affected the extent of coverage in the books. Among the areas associated with critical criminology, the textbooks devoted the most attention to peacemaking topics and the relationship between class, race, and/or gender oppression and criminal behavior and criminal justice practice; anarchist criminology, critical feminism, left realism, and postmodern/constitutive criminology received little or no attention. Our analysis indicates that textbook authors recognized that class, race, and gender inequalities exist in the justice system, but largely ignored the theoretical explanations for these problems.