ABSTRACT
Criminologists have spent long enough in the linear, quantitative paradigm. Criminology has probably reached the point where integration of theories is a virtual necessity. This chapter shows that metatheories are needed to prod criminologists into asking questions and seeking new ways to view existing answers. The appearance of commonsense observations and trite comments, if they really exist, are perhaps the “empirical reality” of metatheory. The social sciences really need to endorse a multiplicity of perspectives and methodologies and then use them all to determine where reality lies. Criminology needs to see the world as the dynamic, complex reality it is. The chapter also shows that virtually all unit theories have grasped some piece of reality. Where theory is concerned, theorists often make claims about reality that seem to require the existence of broad supporting evidence.
