Richard Quinney is a Marxist sociologist who has spent his professional career primarily as an educator, researcher, and writer. Most of his early research focused on the development of a radical theory of criminology, but more recently his interests have turned to the relationship of sociology to religion, regionalism, photography, and the concept of life studies.
Quinney was born Earl Richard Quinney in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on May 16, 1934, the son of Floyd and Alice Holloway Quinney. In 1958 he married Valerie Yow; they are the parents of two daughters, Anne and Laura. Quinney received a degree in psychology and sociology from Carroll College in 1956, after which he began his graduate training in sociology at Northwestern University. On completion of an M.A. degree, he entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the summer of 1957. His Ph.D. work consisted of studies in sociological theory, statistics, and criminology, with his 1962 dissertation examining white collar crime. While completing the work for his dissertation Quinney took his first full time teaching position at St. Lawrence University in 1960. After finishing his degree he moved to the University of Kentucky as assistant professor. At this time, in addition to teaching, he began the next stage of his research on law and crime, directing attention to local patterns of crime. He also began to write and publish articles on theoretical and methodological issues in the study of crime and criminal law.
In 1965 Quinney was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study and conduct research in the sociology of law at the University of California-Berkeley. However, he chose instead to accept an offer of a tenured position as associate professor at New York University. During his years at NYU Quinney developed a theory of the “social reality of crime.” Drawing on conflict theory and power analysis, he applied this theory to a wide range of legal and criminology topics. This effort culminated in the publication of the Social Reality of Crime.
In 1971 Quinney took a sabbatical leave to study at the University of North Carolina. The original leave was extended for two additional years. Then rather than return to New York City, Quinney settled in Providence, Rhode Island, so that his wife could teach at the University of Rhode Island and he could continue his research. During 1974-1975 he held visiting appointments at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the University of New York, although the year was devoted to completing Class, State and Crime. He then obtained a position at Brown University as adjunct professor from 1978 to 1983. Simultaneously he also held visiting positions at Boston University (1975), Boston College (1978-1983), and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 1983 Quinney accepted a position at Northern Illinois University.
In 1984 Quinney received the Edwin Sutherland Award for contribution to criminology from the American Society of Criminology. In 1985 he was Eisenhower Foundation delegate for crime prevention and criminal justice to the People's Republic of China. In 1986 he was awarded a four-month Fulbright lectureship at University College in Galway, Ireland and in the summer of 1993 he was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He retired from Northern Illinois University in 1998.
Richard Quinney is an extraordinarily productive writer and his books include:
- Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology (with Marshall Clinard), 1967, reprinted 1973
- The Problem of Crime, 1970, 1977
- The Social Reality of Crime, 1970
- Criminal Justice in America: A Critical Understanding, 1974
- Critique of Legal Order: Crime Control in Capitalist Society, 1974
- Criminology: Analysis and Critique of Crime in America, 1975, 1979
- Class, State, and Crime: On the Theory and Practice of Criminal Justice, 1977, 1980
- Capitalist Society: Readings for a Critical Sociology, 1979
- Providence: The Reconstruction of Social and Moral Order, 1980
- Marxism and Law (with Piers Beirne), 1982
- Social Existence: Metaphysics, Marxism, and the Social Sciences, 1982
- The Problem of Crime: A Peace and Social Justice Perspective, 1991
- Criminology as Peacemaking, 1991
- Journey to a Far Place: Autobiographical Reflections, 1991
- Of Time and Place, 2006
- Things Once Seen, 2008
In addition, Quinney has served as chair of several sections of the American Sociological Association and has participated in other professional organizations. He has also presented papers at numerous professional meetings and done editorial work and book reviews for a variety of journals as well as guest lectures at many educational institutions.
