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The first delinquency prevention experiment: a socio-historical review of the origins of the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study’s research design

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Abstract

Objectives

Begun in 1939, the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study (CSYS) is recognized as the first delinquency prevention experiment and the earliest example of a longitudinal–experimental study with criminological outcomes. This paper aims to develop a historical understanding of the origins of the study’s research design.

Methods

The present study is guided by the socio-historical approach and informed by past historical research in criminology. It draws upon a wide array of archival records and published works from the late nineteenth century to the present day.

Results

Richard Clarke Cabot designed and directed the CSYS. Major influences on the study’s research design can be traced to Cabot’s medical practice and research, his advocacy for social work practice and research, and his professional relationship with the Gluecks. The beginnings of experimentation in the social sciences during the early twentieth century may have also played a role. Joan McCord’s early involvement in the study proved instrumental to its longitudinal component.

Conclusions

The rigorous and innovative research design of the CSYS marks an important chapter in the history of experimental criminology, and its influence continues to this day. New experimental studies on the prevention of crime and delinquency must continue to strive to advance scientific knowledge and improve public policy.

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Notes

  1. All 142 variables were rated on an 11-point scale and then plotted on a chart for every boy (Powers and Witmer 1951).

  2. As McCord (1984:523) notes, “When a boy was dropped from the treatment program, his matched mate was dropped from the control group.” A comparison of all of the remaining pairs indicated that there were no “reliable differences” between the treatment and control groups on a wide range of variables (e.g., age, IQ, referral to the study as “average” or “difficult,” mental health; see also Powers and Witmer 1951:80-81). However, in an examination of the data in Powers and Witmer (1951), Gottfredson (2010:231, n. 2) reports that “although the mean differences between the treatment and control groups were small relative to their standard deviations, the direction of the differences favored the control cases on 19 of the 20 variables.”

  3. For a discussion of explanations of the iatrogenic effects, see Zane et al. (2016).

  4. The process of random allocation began November 12, 1937, and ended May 13, 1939, and the intervention officially began June 1, 1939 (deQ. Cabot 1940:146).

  5. Fisher’s 1935 book, The Design of Experiments, would prove equally important in the advancement of experiments in the social sciences for decades to come.

  6. So important was the Gluecks’ longitudinal research to Cabot—both the subject matter and the method—that he helped to secure funding for their first two longitudinal studies (Glueck and Glueck 1930, 1934). He also wrote the foreword to their first book (Cabot 1930) and reviewed their second (Cabot 1934).

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers, as well as the reference staff at the Harvard University Archives.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Churchill Hall, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Brandon C. Welsh, Nicole E. Dill & Steven N. Zane

  2. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Brandon C. Welsh

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  1. Brandon C. Welsh
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  2. Nicole E. Dill
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Correspondence to Brandon C. Welsh.

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Welsh, B.C., Dill, N.E. & Zane, S.N. The first delinquency prevention experiment: a socio-historical review of the origins of the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study’s research design. J Exp Criminol 15, 441–451 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-018-9323-9

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