Robert J. Sampson is Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University, Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect.

The biggest problem that Sampson’s book highlights is how wrong it is to focus on individual character traits when it comes to predicting crime and determining punishment…But clearly, even though individual character traits matter, they don’t on their own determine how likely someone is to commit a crime. By comparing one birth cohort with the next, Sampson shows that our collective social or national character may ultimately shape people’s fate to the largest extent.

Robert J. Sampson is Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University, Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect.

The biggest problem that Sampson’s book highlights is how wrong it is to focus on individual character traits when it comes to predicting crime and determining punishment…But clearly, even though individual character traits matter, they don’t on their own determine how likely someone is to commit a crime. By comparing one birth cohort with the next, Sampson shows that our collective social or national character may ultimately shape people’s fate to the largest extent.

Robert J. Sampson is Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University, Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect.

The biggest problem that Sampson’s book highlights is how wrong it is to focus on individual character traits when it comes to predicting crime and determining punishment…But clearly, even though individual character traits matter, they don’t on their own determine how likely someone is to commit a crime. By comparing one birth cohort with the next, Sampson shows that our collective social or national character may ultimately shape people’s fate to the largest extent.