Enrico Ferri

1. The historical context within which the theorist produced their ideas. Discuss the historical, social and political environment in which the theorist developed their model(s). Note: You should not be relying upon your textbook for this, and must provide at least 5-7 outside resources.
2. A summary of their original theory. Present a summary of the most important criminological points of the theorist’s model(s). This should come from original sources written by the theorist(s) themselves rather than commentary. Be only as complex as necessary, but if the theorist’s ideas changed over their career be sure to include discussion. If the theorist is not primarily a criminologist (psychologist, sociologist, etc.) focus only on aspects of their work which have direct criminological significance.
3. Provide a discussion of how the model has been critiqued and altered as new research has emerged. Discuss the major criticisms of the theory. Review critical articles and books. It is absolutely essential that you come up with a way to categorize the criticisms and clearly present your organizational structure.

• Discuss the criticisms one at a time, then detail the critics who suggested them, rather than vice versa.
• Comprehensive critics should be discussed last.
• If the theory has been further developed as a result of response to criticism, discuss it.
• Another organizational tool that might prove useful would be to organize the criticisms chronologically. Certain criticisms might be made in one decade or era, while different criticisms emerge later.

1. The theory’s current usage/popularity within criminology:

• How popular is this theory in the last decade?
• Are there current criminologists using the theorist’s model for research purposes?
• Cite books and journal articles that employ ideas from your theorist and their theoretical tradition.
• What aspects of the author’s ideas are focused upon today?