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The Neglect of Quantitative Research in Green Criminology and Its Consequences

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Abstract

While interest in green criminology has rapidly expanded over the past twenty-five years, much of this growth has occurred on the periphery of orthodox criminology. This article suggests that green criminology’s marginalization is partially a result of its non-quantitative methodology. We hypothesize that non-quantitative tendencies within green criminology distance it from orthodox criminology because orthodox criminology values quantitative methods (Tewksbury et al. in J Crim Justice Educ 16(2):265–279, 2005). Here, we examine how neglecting quantitative research methods may contribute to inattention to green criminology within orthodox criminology, and we consider what can be done to change that situation. We suggest that employing quantitative approaches within green criminology is one way to increase its appeal to mainstream criminology, and that quantitative studies, in conjunction with other research methodologies, can also enhance generalizability of findings, influence policy, and advance theory construction and hypothesis testing.

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Notes

  1. Examples of criminologists who have produced more than one quantitative study related to green criminology include, alphabetically: Ronald V. Clarke (Clarke and Rolf 2013; Lemieux and Clarke 2009); Michael A. Long (Long et al. 2012); Michael J. Lynch (Lynch and Stretesky 2013; Lynch et al. 2004a, Lynch et al. 2004b); Gohar A. Petrossina (Petrossian 2015; Petrossian and Clarke 2014); Stephen Pires (Pires and Clarke 2011, 2012); and Paul B. Stretesky (2003, 2006; Stretesky and Hogan 1998; Stretesky and Gabriel 2005; Stretesky et al. 2003, 2010, 2013; Stretesky and Lynch 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2009a, b, 2011a, b).

  2. Here, we use the term “knowledge” in a general sense to refer to the base of information any particular discipline might produce. We recognize that in using this term generally, we are ignoring an important debate in the philosophical literature on the construction of knowledge, and what the term “knowledge” means in terms of “knowing” the real world. With respect to those broader issues, we follow Bhaskar (1998).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Michael J. Lynch

  2. Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology Department, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA

    Kimberly L. Barrett

  3. Department of Social Sciences and Languages, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Paul B. Stretesky & Michael A. Long

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  1. Michael J. Lynch
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  4. Michael A. Long
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Lynch, M.J., Barrett, K.L., Stretesky, P.B. et al. The Neglect of Quantitative Research in Green Criminology and Its Consequences. Crit Crim 25, 183–198 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-017-9359-6

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