Search

• Judith Rich Harris' Nurture Assumption has had a profound impact on the understanding of human development. • I detail how JRH's scholarship has altered my approach to the study of crime and criminals. • I discuss how the field of criminology has remained steadfast in their resistance to JRH's work. The Nurture Assumption by Judith Rich Harris was a revolutionary book that called into question the family socialization literature and the conventional ways in which parenting is typically studied by social scientists. In the 25 years since it was first published, the key arguments set forth in The Nurture Assumption still remain on the margins of most fields of study and not fully integrated into individual research agendas. In this paper, I focus on how Judith Rich Harris has impacted my scholarly thinking and my academic career as a criminologist. In doing so, I discuss the ways in which Judith Rich Harris' views can guide criminological thinking and the reasons why the field of criminology has been and continues to be resistant to her and The Nurture Assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence on the effectiveness of health promotion interventions is mixed, especially in terms of the magnitude of their impact and long-term adherence. This paper proposes a comprehensive approach informed by behavioural economics of developing behavioural change programmes, which is designed to educate, activate, engage and empower people by taking into consideration individual and social mechanisms. Three applied pilots and their results are presented in order to illustrate the approach using cognitive and social mechanisms to lead to better health outcomes, individually and community-wide. More research is needed to explore levers and barriers for the systemic adoption of this framework in implementing health promotion interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]