author

William Douglas Morrison

1852–1943

A clergyman with a criminologist’s eye, he wrote some of the early influential studies of crime and juvenile offending. His work grew out of years spent as a prison chaplain and later as rector of St Marylebone in London.

1 Audiobook

Crime and Its Causes

Crime and Its Causes

by William Douglas Morrison

About the author

Born in 1852, William Douglas Morrison was a Scottish-born writer, priest, and early criminologist. Sources available here describe him as having served in the prison chaplaincy before becoming rector of St Marylebone in London, a post he held from 1908 until 1943.

His writing focused on crime, punishment, and social conditions. Books such as Crime and Its Causes and Juvenile Offenders drew on his direct experience with prisoners, and later commentary on his work notes his careful use of criminal statistics and his interest in understanding offenders as people rather than just cases.

That mix of pastoral work and practical observation gives his books their distinctive character. Even now, they offer a window into how late 19th- and early 20th-century thinkers tried to make sense of crime, reform, and responsibility.