Description: Sociologist Robert J. Sampson's influential research redefines how we view crime and youth outcomes in the Unites States. By shifting the focus from individual and family traits to generational change and social character, he reveals the flaws in our assumptions about life trajectories and advocates for a fresh approach to social policy.
Brief description: Robert J. Sampson is Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University, Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect.
Review Quotes: Most people's ideas about crime come from headlines, TV shows, and politically biased conventional wisdom. Robert Sampson is a pioneer in sophisticated, evidence-based analyses of crime, and here he explores a profound but underappreciated fact about trends: they can reflect a changing zeitgeist, a shifting mixture of ages, or a turnover of generations. Sampson deftly disentangles them and presents a new understanding of the dramatic changes in American crime rates.--Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined