ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses both to clarify the original ideas and to assess the state of the 'criminological imagination' at this juncture in time. It explores anthology of illustrating the divergent uses of what is now meant by a 'criminological imagination'. Criminology tended toward theory and research. While the two certainly blended together and there were exceptions in disciplinary focus, the disciplinary paradigms were well established. Within academic departments, criminology was more involved in federal funding of research and CJ was more involved in training and management 'efficiency' funding. These differences, and the associated dynamic changes, during this period were critical ones for the criminological imagination. The context for the original 1984 article was based on a feeling that scientism was impeding development of a criminological/sociological imagination. The chapter concludes that the use of criminological imagination is certainly no more frequent today, and is probably less likely to be seen than thirty years ago.
