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| Abbreviation | ASC |
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| Formation | December 30, 1941; 83 years ago (1941-12-30) |
| Headquarters | Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio |
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| Website | www |
| Criminology |
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TheAmerican Society of Criminology (ASC) is an international organization based on the campus ofOhio State University whose members focus on the study ofcrime anddelinquency. It aims to grow and disseminate scholarly research, with members working in many disciplines and on different levels in the fields ofcriminal justice andcriminology.[1] The Society and its members also seek to strengthen the role of research in the formulation of public policy. To further these goals, the Society holds an annual meeting that attracts some 4,000+ attendees from roughly 40 countries.[2]
The society traces its history back to a meeting of seven men at the home of retiredBerkeley Police Department chief andcriminology professorAugust Vollmer on December 30, 1941. The meeting was said to be "for the purpose of furthering college police training and standardizing police training curricula". Establishing itself as theNational Association of College Police Training Officials (NACPTO), the group elected Vollmer, who was due to be deployed into the military following theattack on Pearl Harbor, as President-Emeritus andOrlando W. Wilson as president.[3][4]
After the end ofWorld War II, the NACPTO underwent a reorganization in 1946 and became known as theSociety for the Advancement of Criminology (SAC). In June 1950, the society became affiliated with theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science, and in December of that year, was accepted into theInternational Society of Criminology. The SAC officially changed its name to the American Society of Criminology in November 1957.[3]
The Society has a number of divisions. They have been established at different times over its history, from the Division of International Criminology established in 1981 to the Division of Public Opinion and Policy established in 2021.[5]
The Society publishes a newsletter,The Criminologist,[6] and two journals. The journalCriminology has been published since 1963. It is generally regarded as the leading journal in the field, and is distributed worldwide.[7] The journalCriminology & Public Policy has been published since 2001.[8]
Many of the Society divisions also publish journals and newsletters.
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