Criminology
Criminology
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 evaluate 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.
Keywords: Criminology scholars; criminal justice publications; introductory texts
INTRODUCTION
In the last few years, numerous studies have identified the most-cited scholars in the general criminology and criminal justice literature by examining leading journals (Cohn and Farrington 1990, 1994a,b, 1996; Cohn, Farrington, and Wright forthcoming) and introductory textbooks (Wright, 1995, 1997b; Wright and Cohn 1996; Wright and Soma 1996). Wright and his associates recently have extended citation analysis to the study of publications (academic journals and advanced-level textbooks) in several specialized areas, including critical criminology (Wright and Friedrichs forthcoming), criminological theory (Wright and Rourke forthcoming), women and crime (Wright and Sheridan forthcoming), and police studies (Wright and Miller forthcoming). To date, however, no study has examined how scholars writing in specialized areas are cited in general criminology/criminal justice publications (leading journals and introductory textbooks).
Our study examines citations to critical criminologists in general criminology publications. Specifically, we identify the 30 most-cited critical criminologists in 25 introductory criminology textbooks published from 1992 to 1996. These findings are compared to a study by Wright and Friedrichs...
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