Walter C. Reckless

Walter Cade Reckless (January 19, 1899 – September 20, 1988 ) was an American criminologist known for his containment theory (in social control theory), who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Dublin, Ohio.

Biography Reckless earned his PhD in sociology (1925) from the University of Chicago. While at the Chicago school, he joined with sociologists Robert Park and Ernest Burgess in conducting observation studies of crime in Chicago, Illinois.

As a professor (of social administration and, later, of criminology) at the Ohio State University (1940–1969) Reckless, 1961 ). Building on the early work of Albert J. Reiss (1951), Reckless' theory posits that social control – which constrains deviance, delinquency, and crime – included 'inner' (i.e., strong conscience or a "good self-concept") and 'outer' forces of containment (i.e., supervision and discipline by parents and the school, strong group cohesion, and a consistent moral front).

In 1963, the American Society of Criminology awarded him the Edwin H. Sutherland Award for outstanding contributions to theory or research in criminology on the etiology of criminal and deviant behavior, the criminal justice system, corrections, law, or justice. He served as the President of the American Society of Criminology from 1964 through 1966.