Clifford Robe Shaw (1895 – 1957) was an American sociologist and criminologist. He was a major figure in the Chicago School of

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

during the 1930s and 1940s, and is considered to be one of the most influential figures in American criminology. His work on juvenile delinquency with Henry D. McKay, conducted in the late 1920s, played a pivotal role in moving the study of such delinquency toward the discipline of

, and away from

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

and

psychiatry Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psych ...

. Shaw and McKay's work spanned three general areas: studying geographic variation in rates of juvenile delinquency, the study of autobiographical works by delinquents, and the development of the Chicago Area Project, a delinquency prevention program in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area. The two studies published by Shaw and McKay in the 1930s and 1940s were still held in high regard among social scientists in the 1970s.

References

1895 births 1957 deaths American criminologists People from Henry County, Indiana Adrian College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty {{US-sociologist-stub