ABSTRACT
This article marked the beginning of the “age-crime debate.” In one form or another, this debate continues to the present day, and several of the pieces in this collection are tied directly to it. Interestingly enough, although few scholars have come down on the side of Hirschi and Gottfredson in this dispute, several articles written against them are now routinely interpreted as providing evidence for their position (e.g., David P. Farrington, 1986; Steffensmeier et al. 1989). It seems that in one sense the age-crime debate existed even before the appearance of the article. The original contained many lengthy footnotes addressing the concerns of journal editors and referees. I have cut most of them on the grounds that it is no longer necessary to demonstrate the contentiousness of this issue, and that it is too late to hope that it can be resolved by logical argument.—JHL/TH
