NCJ Number
60094
Journal
Crime and Social Justice Volume: 11 Dated: (SPRING-SUMMER 1979) Pages: 5-13
Date Published
1979
Length
9 pages
Annotation
SCIENTIFIC RAMIFICATIONS OF BIOSOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES ADVANCED BY JEFFERY, ESPECIALLY THE RESURGENCE OF POSITIVISM AND THE DEFENSE OF INTELLECTUAL NEUTRALITY IN THE FIELD OF CRIMINOLOGY, ARE ANALYZED.
Abstract
JEFFERY'S INTEREST IN BIOSOCIAL CRIMINOLOGY IS INTEGRATED INTO A BROAD THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK IN WHICH HE SHARES THE SAME REFORMIST ZEAL AND MANY PROGRAMMATIC INTERESTS HELD BY REALISTS. UNLIKE MANY REALISTS, HOWEVER, HE IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF CONTROLLING CRIME AND DOES NOT HAVE A NARROW FOCUS ON PUNISHMENT AND PENAL DISCIPLINE. HIS INTEREST IN ORIGINS OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR SETS HIM APART FROM SOME REALISTS IN THAT HE SPEAKS AS A CRIMINOLOGIST AND FOR CRIMINOLOGY. JEFFERY ARGUES THAT, SINCE CRIMINALITY INVOLVES BEHAVIOR, THE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF DEVIANCE AND NORM VIOLATION FIRST REQUIRES THE ARTICULATION OF A BASIC THEORY OF BEHAVIOR, IN PARTICULAR LEARNING THEORY DERIVED FROM BIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY. IN SUPPORT OF HIS PERSPECTIVE, JEFFERY POINTS TO STUDIES CLAIMING A LINKAGE BETWEEN LOW INTELLIGENCE AND CRIMINALITY. HE CONTENDS THAT THE BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE BRAIN SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED WITH REGARD TO ITS CONNECTION WITH BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS, E.G., GENETIC FACTORS IN MENTAL ILLNESS. MEANS FOR IMPLEMENTING BIOSOCIAL CRIME CONTROL POLICY AT THE INDIVIDUAL OFFENDER LEVEL ENTAILS THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, TESTS AND MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS, AND SOMETIMES INTRUSION INTO THE PRIVACY OF THE INDIVIDUAL. BECAUSE OF WIDESPREAD OPPOSITION TO THE CONTROL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR BY THE STATE, JEFFERY PROPOSES TO ESTABLISH A PRIVATE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH SYSTEM TO PARALLEL OR REPLACE THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. RESEARCH CENTERS ASSOCIATED WITH MAJOR MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS WOULD THUS BE SET UP TO TREAT BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS, INCLUDING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS. SIGNIFICANT POLITICAL THEMES IN JEFFERY'S WRITINGS AND IN HIS SCIENTIFIC PREMISES ARE CRIME PREVENTION, CRIME, POVERTY AND WELFARE, POSITIVISM, AND SCIENTIFIC NEUTRALITY. HIS CALL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY CRIMINIOLOGY EXEMPTS ONLY DISCIPLINES WHICH ARE AT THE HEART OF MARXISM (HISTORY, POLITICS, AND ECONOMICS). REFERENCES ARE CITED. (DEP)