Theory without ideas: reply to Akers
Article Abstract:
Ronald Akers examines and presents the flaws he found in Ruth Kornhauser's critique on Edwin Sutherland's theory of cultural deviance. He then cites how the theory on social learning has been improved. However, what Akers fails to realize is that Kornhauser was arguing against the idea around which the theory was built. If the theory is proved to be erroneous through research analysis, attempts at its correction must be made only by going back to the idea on which it was built.
Publication Name: Criminology
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0011-1384
Year: 1996
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Robbery, death, and irony: how an armed robbery wave in Hong Kong led to the abolition of the death penalty
Article Abstract:
Capital punishment remains a strong symbol after the 1989 Tienanmen Massacre and some of the rhetoric used against it came from an equation with the torture and killing of dissidents in China and its possible use against dissidents in Hong Kong after 1997. The irony is that the abolition was put in place after a wave of serious armed crime and that this wave receded after the punishment was abolished. Other reasons why the abolition succeeded are covered.
Publication Name: The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0265-5527
Year: 1997
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