Justice Quarterly

Types of Causation and Their Relevance for Crime and Justice Theory and Policy

Justice Quarterly is seeking papers for a special issue on types of causation and their relevance for developing and testing theories of crime and justice as well as for informing policy and practice.  Many theories and policies do not precisely describe the type of causation that they implicate or target.  The result can be misunderstanding, missed opportunities to understand causal processes, and questionable foundations for assessing and improving policy effectiveness.  Submissions may, but do not have to, include empirical tests.  The submissions might consider any number of causal relationships, such as, but not limited to, the following:

• Quantitative vs. qualitative approaches to estimating causal effects
• Experimental- vs. nonexperimental-based causal inferences
• Interaction effects
• Timing effects (e.g., the time it may take for changes in X to influence Y)
• Duration effects (e.g., how long effects persist)
• Variation in causal processes across units of analysis
• Probabilistic vs. deterministic causation
• Linear vs. curvilinear effects, including floor and tipping effects
• Level vs. change effects, as well as level-change interactions
• Symmetric vs. asymmetric causation
• Reversible vs. irreversible causation (e.g., possibility, or not, of undoing a change)
• Non-recursive causation (e.g., bi-directional reciprocal or feedback effects)
• Causation within systems contexts

Submissions must:

(a) be focused on one or more types of causation,

(b) explicitly consider the theoretical implications of types of causation for developing new theories or modifying extant ones, and

(c) examine or discuss consequences of different types of causation for policy.