“A Content Analysis of the American Society of Criminology’s Presidential Address, 1988–2022: A Qualitative Exploration”

Abstract

The number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals, publication in elite journals, inclusion in “classics” reading lists of graduate programs, and citation counts have been used as measures of scholarly influence. The annual addresses given by the presidents of the American Society of Criminology have escaped the attention of scholars in criminology and criminal justice as measures of scholarly influence. This shortcoming is notable for two reasons. First, the ASC presidents have often been included in previous indicators of scholarly influence. Second, the presidential addresses can be viewed as intellectual history of the discipline across time, delivered by influential scholars who have advanced criminology in meaningful ways. The current paper explores the ASC presidential addresses using qualitative methods. The findings indicate three key themes embedded in the addresses: (1) the public and private functions of criminology; (2) political feasibility of criminology; (3) crisis of legitimacy in criminology. The implications for criminology and criminal justice education are discussed.