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

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