What is comparative criminology?

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RESPONSE:

1. What is comparative criminology?

Beirne & Hill (1991) define "comparative criminology" as the systematic study of crime, law, and social control in two or more cultures, noting that this aspect of criminology has previously been ignored" (http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/BVR%252f.aspx).

Comparative criminology continues to develop at an accelerated pace. Today, cross-national empirical studies of crime are quite common and comparative theories of crime, such as the Durkheimian-modernization theory, Marxian World Systems/Dependency theory, and ecological opportunity theory have been formulated. There also have been several cross-national analyses of American theories of crime, yet very little attention has been given to theoretical developments unique to the historical, cultural, and social structural characteristics of lesser known societies (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V75-3WHC49S-3&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=1d5bb4cc21fcd9dbd99ba35b6a7af190).

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a comparative perspective?

Ideally, theories should be tested under as many varied conditions as possible; but in the past, unfortunately, criminologists have realized that most existing criminal theory is limited to only a few Western ...