Negligent criminology: Alfred Adler’s influence on Bernard, Sheldon, and Eleanor Glueck

We suggest that Bernard, Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck routinely applied Alfred Adler’s general psychological concepts to specific instances of criminological theory without proper attribution. We offer several levels of support: (1) we contrast the Freudian terminology within Bernard Glueck’s early wr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shon, Phillip (Author)
Contributors: Mansager, Erik
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: European journal of criminology
Year: 2021, Volume: 18, Issue: 5, Pages: 660-677
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Adler, Alfred > 1870-1937
Classical Adlerian psychology
Glueck, Bernard > 1883-
Individual Psychology
Life-course criminology
Psychological theory of crime
Description
Summary:We suggest that Bernard, Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck routinely applied Alfred Adler’s general psychological concepts to specific instances of criminological theory without proper attribution. We offer several levels of support: (1) we contrast the Freudian terminology within Bernard Glueck’s early writings and Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck’s influential book Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency (1950) with the Adlerian constructs of their respective criminological works; (2) we describe the enduring similarity between life-course theory of crime and Adler’s original theory; and (3) we speculate as to how this apparent but non-attributed Adlerian influence occurred. Overall, the article exposes a circumstantial evidence of neglect in the criminology literature: Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck’s silence on Adler’s contribution and their own ostracization by mainstream criminology. We conclude that acknowledgment of the Gluecks’ contribution and their debt to Adler could continue to reinvigorate criminology today.
ISSN:1741-2609
DOI:10.1177/1477370819874455