The ESRC Cambridge Network

For the study of the social contexts of pathways in crime

SCoPiC Conference Continues Tradition of Success

The Second Annual SCoPiC Conference 2005: Methods and Analytical Techniques was held in Cambridge on 29th and 30th June. Like previous conferences, it attracted scholars, practitioners, and policy makers from across the world. Professor Paul Wiles, Director of Research Development and Statistics at the Home Office, in his welcoming address praised this evidence of academic work being successfully disseminated to a broad audience and stressed its importance. He was joined in welcoming the delegates by Professor of Law John Spencer from the University of Cambridge and Professor Per-Olof Wikström, also of Cambridge, the Director of SCoPiC.

The papers were delivered in three distinct sections. The first section dealt with analysing causation; the second, measuring environments; and the third, analysing trajectories. Each session included a session chair and discussant from a complementary academic field. Andrew Pickles, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Manchester and Sir Michael Rutter, Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London, delivered ‘twinned’ papers on the subject of analysing causation. Professor Sir Rutter examined what conceptual and data needs must be met to successfully Proceed from Correlational Observation to Causal Inference. Professor Pickles's paper, From Correlation to Causation, further developed the argument for explaining correlation to understand causation.

The second section, chaired by the University of Cambridge's Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms, dealt with the difficulties inherent in effectively measuring environmental factors. Professor Robert Sampson of Harvard University opened this session with a paper on Ecometrics: The Use of Surveys and Observational Methods to Study Social Settings, in which he discussed the evolution of ecometric measures and novel methods now under experimentation for the measurement of environmental influences. Professor Per-Olof Wikström, Professor of Ecological and Developmental Criminology at the University of Cambridge, and Dr. Vania Ceccato, a research associate for the Peterborough Adolescent Development Study, followed with a presentation on Studying Activity Fields: Space-Time Budgets and GSI, in which they introduced new techniques for gathering data on, and visually depicting, individuals' activities and movements in space. Professor Julie Horney of the University of Albany served as discussant.

The final section of papers dealt with developmental pathways and criminal careers. The session was chaired by Professor Hans-Juergen Kerner of the University of Tuebingen. Professor Daniel Nagin of Carnegie-Mellon University opened with a paper on Modelling Trajectories and Criminal Behaviour, in which he explored the statistical implications of different developmental pathways and methods for modelling them with statistical accuracy. His presentation was followed by Pennsylvania State University's Professor Wayne Osgood's paper Life Events and Criminal Behaviour which delved into the impact of changing influences on criminal behaviour over the life course. Professor Terrie Moffitt of King's College, London, served as discussant.

Professor Tom Snijders from the University of Groningen presented the final paper of the conference on Multilevel Network Models in the Study of Crime: The Interplay Between Individual Background and Social Environment, detailing new methods for modelling the interaction of individual and environmental effects. The University of Cambridge's Dietrich Oberwittler chaired the final session and Professor Andrew Pickles served as discussant.

The conference concluded with a panel discussion involving Professors Pickles, Sampson, Wikström, Horney, Nagin, Moffitt, Osgood and Snijders, and Dr. Ceccato.  The panel discussion was chaired by Professor Sir Michael Rutters.