Joan Fish McCord (August 4, 1930 – 2004) was an American professor of
Criminology at
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...
and a recipient of the Herbert Bloch Award from the
American Society of Criminology.
Early life
Joan McCord was born as Joan Fish on August 4, 1930 in Manhattan, New York. She graduated from
Stanford University with a degree in
philosophy in 1952 and did graduate work at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, followed by a master's degree in education in 1956, also from Harvard University, and then an M.A. in 1966 and a Ph.D. in 1968, both in
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 ...
, from Stanford.
Career
Criminologist
In 1968 she joined the faculty in
Drexel University and then moved to Temple University in 1987. In 1989 she became the first female president of the
American Society of Criminology. She is particularly known for experimental
longitudinal studies
A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over short or long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of obs ...
of mentoring programs, especially the
Cambridge Somerville Youth Study, often showing they had counterintuitive negative effects. Her researched was featured in an episode of Freakanomics, "When Helping Hurts." She also studied the causes of
juvenile delinquency, and wrote about
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
and
psychopathy
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have bee ...
. She is said to have made unique contributions by merging philosophical thinking with
empirical social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
. In 1996 she was interviewed by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' regarding a rape committed by a 12-year old.
[
]
Author
Aside from being a criminologist Joan McCord was known for her editorial work, particularly chapter four of the ''Cures That Harm'' which came out in ''The New York Times'' in 2002. A volume of her essays on criminology, edited by her son Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, were published postmortem by Temple University Press in 2007.
TV
She also credited for appearing in ''Scared Straight!
''Scared Straight!'' is a 1978 American documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro. Narrated by Peter Falk, the subject of the documentary is a group of juvenile delinquents and their three-hour session with actual convicts. Filmed at Rahway St ...
'', a documentary on juvenile delinquents
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
.
Personal life
Joan McCord was married to her first husband, the sociologist William Maxwell McCord, with whom she had co-authored numerous early books and articles. They had two sons, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (who resides in Durham, N.C.), and Rob McCord and four grandsons. Her second husband, Carl A. Silver, was a professor at Drexel University. She died from lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
in Narberth, Pennsylvania, on February 24, 2004.
References
Further reading
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External links
ASC Newsletter 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccord, Joan
1930 births
2004 deaths
American criminologists
Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
American women criminologists
Presidents of the American Society of Criminology
Stanford University alumni
Temple University faculty
Drexel University faculty
deaths from lung cancer