GoKawiilMarked by Time: How Social Change Has Transformed Crime and the Life Trajectories of Young Americans Robert J. Sampson Harvard Univ. Press (2026)
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In Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of the 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange, gang leader Alex DeLarge is portrayed as an ultraviolent miscreant. Once imprisoned, he is subjected to aversion therapy, which serves only to reinforce the deeply rooted nature of his criminal disposition.
DeLarge is one of cinema’s most memorable villains, and his behaviour aligns with a common explanation for why some people become chronic criminal offenders: ‘bad character’.
In Marked by Time, criminologist Robert Sampson sets out the degree to which academic theory, policing and court practice depend on this idea. He also lays out evidence that it is a fundamentally wrong-headed assumption: it neglects the role of changing historical circumstances in influencing a person’s chances of first being arrested, which subsequently affects whether they become a repeat offender.
Disquieting but effective, Sampson’s book makes a compelling case for rooting out character-based assumptions — and for factoring in historical context — at all stages of the criminal-justice system.
A matter of time
The idea that a person’s character is central to their risk of committing crime is prominent in the field of crime theory. As Sampson concedes, some evidence does indicate that children who are impulsive or lack self-control are more likely to engage in criminal activity as teenagers and adults. A classic study, for example, showed that antisocial behaviour in childhood was a strong predictor of antisocial behaviour in adulthood (L. N. Robins Psychol. Med. 8, 611–622; 1978).
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Yet Sampson notes that many, if not all, of these long-term studies are based on samples from single historical periods. If character were the key factor in determining who becomes a criminal, its relevance should remain stable across history, even during periods of rapid social change.
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