ABSTRACT
A diverse range of theoretical work characterizes North American criminology. Yet, one would not know this if he or she only read Criminology and Criminology and Public Policy, which are the two official journals of the American Society of Criminology. Further, since their inception, very few Canadian scholars have published in these outlets, but theory construction and testing occurs north of the U.S. border. Certainly, what Jock Young (1988) stated over 20 years ago still holds true today: “American criminology is a powerhouse of ideas, research techniques and interventions which understandably dominate Western thinking about crime” (p. 293). Positivism continues to dominate the bulk of American criminology and the aforementioned journals are classic examples of this orthodox or mainstream way of thinking. The main objective of this chapter is not to carp about the hegemony of middle-of-the-road U.S. criminological thought. Nor is it to simply review theories recently constructed and tested in North America. Rather, the key goal is to document parallel and divergent theoretical trends in the U.S. and Canada. First, it is essential to examine the current political economic context of theoretical work now being done in North America.
