Abstract
This chapter is concerned with proposing, or revisiting, a model of causation that would be sophisticated enough for the purposes of contemporary, complex causal theorising. It will be argued that the suggested mechanism, an adaptation of Mackie’s INUS model, is an adequate causal model for criminology theorising. It shall be shown that this particular model, whilst not novel, works by explicitly defining not only that which can be counted as causal but also how a causal factor must fit into the structure of the mechanism. Also, it explicates not only how this model is more suited to contemporary integrated forms of theorising that arise in contemporary criminology but also how the INUS conditions solve many of the problems, such as the confusion between correlates and causes, that besets the Humean causal ontology. The chapter also explores some of the criticisms and problems that this causal explanation may face.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Hausman, D. M. (1986). Causation and Experimentation. American Philosophical Quarterly, 23(2), 143–154.
Hoerl, C., McCormack, T., and Beck, S. R. (2011). Introduction: Understanding Counterfactuals and Causation. In C. Hoerl, T. McCormack and S. R. Beck (eds.), Understanding Counterfactuals, Understanding Causation: Issues in Philosophy and Psychology (pp. 1–15). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kenny, D. A. (1979). Correlation and Causality. New York: A Wiley-Interscience Publication, Wiley and Sons.
Mackie, J. L. (1965). Causes and Conditions. American Philosophical Quarterly, 2(4), 245–264.
Mackie, J. L. (1966). The Direction of Causation. The Philosophical Review, 75(4), 441–466.
Mackie, J. L. (1974). The Cement of the Universe: A study of Causation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Marini, M. M. and Singer, B. (1988). Causality in the Social Sciences. Sociological Methodology, 18, 347–409.
Martin, M. (1994). The Philosophical Importance of the Rosenthal Effect. In M Martin and L. C. McIntyre (eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science (pp. 585–596). Oxford: MIT Press.
Matza, D. (1969). Becoming Deviant. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Morgan, S. L. and Winship, C. (2015). Counterfactuals and Causal Inference: Methods and Principles for Social Research. (2nd edn.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Musgrave, A. E. (1973). Falsification and its Critics. Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, 74, 393–406.
Popper, K. (1968). Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Psillos, S. (2002). Causation and Explanation. Chesham: Acumen.
Rosenberg, A. (2012). Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction. (3rd edn.). London and NY: Routledge.
Salmon, W. C. (1994). Causality without Counterfactuals. Philosophy of Science, 61(2), 297–312.
Wikström, P.-O. H. (2004). Crime as Alternative: Towards a Cross-Level Situational Action Theory of Crime Causation. In Beyond Empiricism: Institutions and Intentions in the Study of Crime J. McCord (ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Advances in Criminological Theory 13.
Wikström, P.-O. H. (2006). Individuals, Settings and Acts of Crime: Situational Mechanisms and the Explanation of Crime’. In P.-O. H. Wikström and R. J. Sampson (eds.), The Explanation of Crime: Context, Mechanisms and Development (pp. 61–107). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hahn, U. (2011). The Problem of Circularity in Evidence, Argument, and Explanation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(2), 172–182.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Warr, J. (2016). INUS Conditions and Criminological Theory. In: An Introduction to Criminological Theory and the Problem of Causation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47446-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47446-5_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47445-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47446-5
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)