Criminality and economic conditionsBonger, Willem Adriaan
General
Criminality and economic conditions
Bonger, Willem Adriaan
Crime -- Economic aspects
The eminent scholar and author in his preface to the American edition
expresses the conviction that his “ideas about the etiology of crime
will not be shared by a great many readers of the American edition,”
and, also, “that the book is sure to meet with many disapproving
critics on this side of the ocean.” The distinguished author may be
agreeably disappointed in the number of American readers who will agree
in a large measure with his conclusions as to the causes of crime
generally. I am inclined to think that the remedy which Dr. Bonger
proposes is more apt to elicit controversy than the correctness of his
diagnosis. The great value of Dr. Bonger’s work to Americans, however,
will be independent of the number of readers who concede the force of
his reasoning or accept the logic of his conclusions. Disagree with the
author’s conclusions as the reader may and its value to the reader will
not be impaired. One cannot take issue with the conclusions of a
scholar based on study and research, without an exercise of processes
of the mind valuable to the reader, and probably so to others. From the
right quantity and quality of criticism comes the truth. One of the
most valuable portions of Dr. Bonger’s work will be found in his own
criticisms of the writings of other European authors, particularly
those comprising the so-called Italian and French schools.
“Criminality and Economic Conditions” is the nearest approach to an
exhaustive treatment of the question of the agencies productive of
crime which has thus far been published in this country. The work is a
result of great study and research, and little existing data can have
been overlooked. Agree or not with the conclusions of the author, doubt
the force of his reasoning if one will, nevertheless, such reasoning
and conclusions have their basis in statistics and data furnished, from
which other reasoning or conclusions may be formed if the reader thinks
the author’s conclusions are not supported by the facts.
Whether existing economic conditions are fundamentally wrong, and crime
is but the natural concomitant of a false economic basis upon which
society is organized, is a controversial question which is so
forcefully presented by the author that the reader must concede that
his views have been presented by a master.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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