ABSTRACT
In 1974, Hirschi and Michael Hindelang led a seminar at the School of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York, Albany on “Correlates of Crime and Delinquency.” Students were required to write and defend papers on particular correlates of crime, such as age, race, or sex, being careful to avoid the numerous pitfalls discussed in the course. (One student, Michael Gottfredson, wrote his paper on age.) As full participants in the course, Hirschi and Hindelang chose to examine the evidence on intelligence. The paper reprinted here was the result. “Intelligence and Delinquency” immediately provoked a sharply critical response (Ronald L. Simons, 1978, “The Meaning of the IQ-Delinquency Relationship,” American Sociological Review 43:268-270). Hirschi and Hindelang (“Reply to Simons.” American Sociological Review 43:610-613) did not retreat. Although controversy remains, it can be argued that their paper marked a turning point in treatment of this topic. Because even scholars often rely solely on titles and general knowledge of the contents of a piece, the subtitle of the original article (“A Revisionist Review”) was probably a mistake. As the reader will see, “Intelligence and Delinquency”is also based on important original data and analysis.— JHL/TH
