Delinquency and drift revisited: the criminology of David Matza and beyond - volume 21

Fifty years ago, David Matza wrote 'Delinquency and Drift', challenging the ways people thought about the development of criminals.

Today, 'Delinquency and Drift Revisited' reminds criminologists that they ignore Matza's writings at their own intellectual peril.

Matza's work shows his insights on a range of core criminological issues, such as: the complex nature of culture and its connection to criminality; the extent to which rule-breakers are truly different from the 'rest of us'; the importance of focusing on human agency in understanding the subjective side of offending; the interaction of propensity and peer influences in criminal involvement; the role of the state in signifying individuals as deviant and entrapping them in criminal roles; and the processes that lead offenders to desist from crime.