ABSTRACT
Criminologists do not, however, study violent criminals' social experiences, either the significant or trivial ones. Instead, some study factors which play upon violent criminals from inside their bodies, such as chromosomes, hormones, or brain waves, either alone or together with those which play upon them from outside their bodies in their social environments, such as subcultures or social stratification. The usual rebuttal of academic experts on violent crime to the charge that they have little first-hand knowledge of their subject of expertise is that one need not actually have heart trouble or some other terrible disease to discover a cure for it. Discovering the significant social experiences which a small number of people have undergone over their lives is a much more difficult task than it may appear. Human social experiences can provide a murky and nebulous domain through which one can quickly and easily lose one's way.
