TY - JOUR

T1 - Feldexperimente in der Kriminologie - innovativ oder unmöglich?

AU - Kroher, Martina

AU - Wolbring, Tobias

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Besides a description of the prevalence of different offense types, large parts of criminology are concerned with identifying determinants of deviant and criminal behavior. Thereby many criminological approaches assume that individuals act rationally and react systematically to incentives. As any experience science, criminology aims to uncover causal influences and to estimate their effects based on empirical data - frequently driven by the aspiration to derive practical implications about preventive measures, interventions, and laws. At the same time, it is often difficult in practice to disentangle the influences of interest from other interfering factors. In this paper, we argue that field experiments are often particularly well suited for these endeavors of causal inference. They usually allow drawing rather save conclusions about causal relationships, while at the same time ensuring a high degree of naturalness and enabling researchers to systematically vary central explanatory variables such as costs of action. However, the approach has also clear limits, which is why experimental criminology still partly faces skepticism in the scientific community. After a general introduction into experimental research designs we will illustrate the advantages and problems of field experiments in criminology for the case of the broken windows theory. We conclude with a short summary and some recommendations on future directions for field experimental research in criminology.

AB - Besides a description of the prevalence of different offense types, large parts of criminology are concerned with identifying determinants of deviant and criminal behavior. Thereby many criminological approaches assume that individuals act rationally and react systematically to incentives. As any experience science, criminology aims to uncover causal influences and to estimate their effects based on empirical data - frequently driven by the aspiration to derive practical implications about preventive measures, interventions, and laws. At the same time, it is often difficult in practice to disentangle the influences of interest from other interfering factors. In this paper, we argue that field experiments are often particularly well suited for these endeavors of causal inference. They usually allow drawing rather save conclusions about causal relationships, while at the same time ensuring a high degree of naturalness and enabling researchers to systematically vary central explanatory variables such as costs of action. However, the approach has also clear limits, which is why experimental criminology still partly faces skepticism in the scientific community. After a general introduction into experimental research designs we will illustrate the advantages and problems of field experiments in criminology for the case of the broken windows theory. We conclude with a short summary and some recommendations on future directions for field experimental research in criminology.

KW - Broken windows theory

KW - Causality

KW - Deviance

KW - Experiment

KW - Rational choice theory

KW - Social norms

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065785551&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1515/mks-2018-1013-406

DO - 10.1515/mks-2018-1013-406

M3 - Artikel

VL - 101

SP - 297

EP - 321

JO - Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform

JF - Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform

SN - 0026-9301

IS - 3-4

ER -