ABSTRACT
The introduction contextualizes Travis Hirschi’s landmark 1969 monograph, Causes of Delinquency, within the larger body of Hirschi’s research and within the wider field of criminology. Hirschi was the most cited criminologist of the last 50 years, social control theory was one of the dominant theoretical perspectives, and Causes of Delinquency is one of the 20 great books of criminology. The introduction summarizes the arguments that Hirschi made in Causes of Delinquency, and briefly describes the four elements of the social bond: attachment, belief, commitment, and involvement. The introduction then describes the rationale for a festschrift to celebrate the golden anniversary of the publication of Causes of Delinquency. The six chapters in Part I engage with the arguments and the empirical analyses of Causes of Delinquency, while the seven chapters in Part II consider potential new directions for social control theory.
