ABSTRACT
Use of historical and archival data is a relatively neglected area of criminal justice research. Research based on examining existing sources of information is considered archival or documental analysis. While we tend to study social phenomena at a single point in time, we tend to forget that each phase of society has a history. This omission may be due to the tendency of researchers to view history as a mere chronicle of unique events. As C. Wright Mills noted, “Whatever else a person may be, he or she is a social actor and an historical actor who must be understood, if at all, in a close and intricate interplay with historical structure.”1
