The criminal in Criminologie between 1968 and 2016
This article examines the coverage and approach of articles dealing with the criminal based on empirical research published between 1968 and 2016 that met certain criteria: criminals had to be the main object of the study, the methodology had to be detailed and rigorous, and the research design had to be reproducible. Twenty-four articles were selected. In these, who counts as a criminal rests on certain presuppositions. While the way in which a criminal is identified varies very little and is usually based on official criminal records, deciding whether someone should be considered a criminal varies according to certain characteristics. Research on criminals focuses largely on specific criminal conduct or criminal careers. Research designs in the articles selected vary, but a large majority are quantitative and although longitudinal designs are to be encouraged in studying criminal careers, they are rare. Self-reported data are more often used than official data, highlighting the limitations of official data for study of this topic. Possible directions for research on criminals are suggested in the conclusion.