ABSTRACT
Chapter 10 asks what an evolving working paradigm for criminology might look like if criminal thinking were to serve as its core construct. With assistance from the core construct of criminal thinking and guidance from a general philosophical framework (nature of man, nature of society, and nature of change) designed to maximize the internal consistency of theoretical assumptions and postulates, a researcher or a group of researchers could construct an integrated theory that might then move criminology in the direction of normal science. In this third stage of the multi-stage model, elaboration is used to combine triads into clusters, after which the clusters are expanded using such inductive techniques as puzzle solving and extrapolation. Patchwork and pruning are then used to smooth out the rough edges and ensure that the paradigm’s assumptions and postulates possess adequate internal consistency. Four clusters (origins of criminal thought process, peer and sibling influence, psychological inertia, and criminal decision-making) are introduced in an effort to illustrate how triads can be organized into clusters and clusters can then be expanded to form a working paradigm for criminology.
