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Although all good social science research is by its very nature comparative, criminology and criminal justice have only recently embraced cross‐national research as a mainstream activity. This paper presents a brief history of the development of the subfield of empirical comparative criminology and criminal justice, assesses a typology of comparative studies, and identifies sources of comparative data. In addition, the paper discusses the benefits and drawbacks of using various available data sources which support macro‐, micro‐, or mixed‐ level analyses. Finally, the paper discusses the impediments to and the future of comparative crime and criminal justice research.
Notes
The author wishes to thank Sandra Baxter, of Applied Research Analysis, for her thoughtful help on an earlier draft.
Contact information: Richard R. Bennett, Department of Justice, Law and Society, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016. E‐mail: [email protected]