1st Edition
Social Bridges and Contexts in Criminology and Sociology Reflections on the Intellectual Legacy of James F. Short, Jr.
Social Bridges and Contexts in Criminology and Sociology brings together leading scholars to commemorate the illustrious career and enduring contributions of Professor James F. Short, Jr., to the social sciences. Although Professor Short is best known as a gang scholar, he was a bridging figure who advanced the study of human behavior across multiple domains.
Individual chapters document Professor Short’s intellectual development and highlight the significance of his theoretical and empirical work in a range of specialty areas, including suicide and homicide, criminological theory, field and self-report survey research methodologies, white-collar crime, hazards and risks, levels of explanation, microsocial group processes, and the etiology of gang violence and delinquency. A special feature of this book is the collection of brief personal reflection essays appearing after the main chapters. Authored by Professor Short’s students, colleagues, collaborators, and friends, these essays provide powerful testimonials of the influence of his intellectual legacy as well as his generous spirit and commitment to mentorship.
Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology and sociology, and all those interested in the important contributions of Professor James F. Short, Jr., to these subject areas.
List of Contributors
Editorial Introduction
Lorine A. Hughes and Lisa M. Broidy
PART ONE. INTELLECTUAL ROOTS
Chapter 1. Reflections on Disciplines and Fields, Problems, Policies, and Life
James F. Short, Jr.
Chapter 2. James F. Short, Jr.—A Legacy of Integration
Charles R. Tittle
Chapter 3. Jim Short and the Chicago School of Sociology
Andrew V. Papachristos
PART TWO. EARLY CAREER CONTRIBUTIONS
Chapter 4. Understanding Lethal Violence: Homicide and Suicide
Charis E. Kubrin
Chapter 5. Measuring Individual Behaviors with Self-Reports: The Case of Self-Reported Delinquency
Alex R. Piquero
PART THREE. CROWNING INSIGHTS
Chapter 6. Core Controversies and Debates in the Study of Gangs
Finn-Aage Esbensen and Cheryl L. Maxson
Chapter 7. Levels of Explanation and the Group Process Perspective
Scott H. Decker and David C. Pyrooz
Chapter 8. Social Observation, Participation, and Ethnography
Mark S. Fleisher
Chapter 9. Status Management and Situational Inducements to Violence
Chris Melde and Mark T. Berg
Chapter 10. Collective Action, Rational Choice, and Gang Delinquency: Appreciating Short and Strodtbeck ([1965] 1974)
Ross L. Matsueda and Charles C. Lanfear
PART FOUR. NOVEL APPLICATIONS TO KNOWLEDGE AND POLICY
Chapter 11. Group Process and Knowledge Formation in Context: Gang Delinquency and Mass Atrocity Crimes
Joachim J. Savelsberg
Chapter 12. Government Commissions and the Search for Knowledge: Basic and Applied
James F. Short, Jr.
PART FIVE. REFLECTION ESSAYS
1. James F. Short, Jr.: A Remembrance
Geoffrey Alpert
2. How Dr. Short Became Jim
Jurg Gerber
3. Jim Short, All-American Advocate
John Hagan
4. Personal Reflections on the Impact of James F. Short, Jr.
Janet L. Lauritsen
5. I Still Blame Jodie Foster
Robert F. Meier
6. Roads Well Traveled and A Life Well Lived
Robert J. Sampson
7. Remembering Jim Short
Charles R. Tittle
Index
Biography
Lorine A. Hughes, PhD, is Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and teaching interests include gangs, criminological theory, comparative criminology, social networks, and quantitative methods. She studied under Jim Short at Washington State University and collaborated with him for nearly two decades. Together, they digitized and reanalyzed Short and Strodtbeck’s Chicago gang data using modern methods. Resulting publications have appeared in Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Social Forces.
Lisa M. Broidy, PhD, is Regents’ Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of New Mexico and Adjunct Professor at Griffith Criminology Institute in Brisbane Australia. Broadly, her scholarship focuses on the causes of crime, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which gender, life course transitions, institutional contact, strains (including victimization and trauma), and emotions influence offending behavior and related outcomes. Combining these interests, she is currently involved in projects in both Australia and the US that examine the impact of criminal justice contact on the well-being of mothers and their children.
"This important volume critically examines James F. Short’s groundbreaking and classic work in urban sociology and criminology, and foreshadows his enduring influence on the field’s future generation of scholars."
Elijah Anderson, Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies, Department of Sociology, Yale University
"To this day, the fundamental insights that characterized Jim Short's impressive career continue to resonate with criminologists and influence their scholarship. The quality of the contributors and their essays in this volume provide strong testimony to that."
Alfred Blumstein, J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems And Operations Research, Emeritus, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University
"The articles in this volume are almost an explosion of praise for the contributions James Short made to the world he was so active a part of as thinker, doer, colleague, and mentor. He was a very special presence. I would add yet another tribute to that already very impressive and well-deserved list. He was elected President of the American Sociological Association at a particularly sensitive time in its history and brought new life to that important organization not only in the year he served as its leader but in the years that preceded and the years that followed."
Kai Erickson, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Department of Sociology, Yale University
"The essays in this volume honor Jim Short and his many contributions to sociology and criminology. Along with Joan Moore, Jim was the Chicago School model for my research. Combining theory and history with close ties to the gang members they studied, both of their collaborative models exemplified field research. It is wonderful to see a collection of work by strong scholars who were similarly influenced by Jim."
John M. Hagedorn, Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice, Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice, University of Illinois-Chicago
