author

Arthur MacDonald

1856–1936

An early American criminologist and educator, he wrote widely on crime, psychology, and social reform at the turn of the 20th century. His books capture a moment when scholars were trying to turn human behavior into something they could measure, classify, and debate.

1 Audiobook

Fundamental Peace Ideas including The Westphalian Peace Treaty (1648) and The League Of Nations (1919) in connection with International Psychology and Revolutions

Fundamental Peace Ideas including The Westphalian Peace Treaty (1648) and The League Of Nations (1919) in connection with International Psychology and Revolutions

by Arthur MacDonald

About the author

Born in 1856, Arthur MacDonald was an American writer and researcher whose work sat at the crossroads of criminology, psychology, education, and anthropology. Surviving library and archival records show that he published extensively on subjects such as crime, "abnormal" behavior, child study, and social conditions, including books like Criminology, Abnormal Man, and War and Criminal Anthropology.

MacDonald was also connected with the U.S. Bureau of Education, where records describe him as working on education in relation to people then labeled the abnormal or weakling classes. His career reflects many of the ambitions and biases of late 19th- and early 20th-century social science: a strong faith in measurement and classification, paired with ideas that modern readers may find dated or troubling.

He died in 1936. Today, his books are mainly of interest to readers exploring the history of criminology, psychology, education reform, and the language earlier generations used to study human behavior.