crim-theory-building
Use when building the theoretical argument of a Criminology (ASC / Wiley) manuscript into a field-level contribution. Criminology rewards an explicit mechanism, scope conditions, and observable implications over a bare crime correlation, whether the work tests, extends, or adjudicates a criminological theory. Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill crim-theory-building --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Theory & Argument Building (crim-theory-building) At *Criminology* a result is not a contribution until it is attached to a **mechanism the field can use elsewhere.** This skill turns crime findings into theory: explicit causal stories, scope conditions, and observable implications drawn from (or pushing against) the field's theoretical traditions. ## When to trigger - The empirics are strong but the "so what / why does crime behave this way" is thin - A reviewer said the paper is "atheoretical," "ad hoc," or "just a finding" - You need to state mechanisms, assumptions, and scope conditions explicitly - You are extending or adjudicating between two criminological theories ## Build the argument 1. **Concept.** Define the key constructs precisely — offending vs. arrest, desistance vs. a lull, victimization vs. reporting, legitimacy vs. compliance. Distinguish each from its neighbors. 2. **Mechanism.** The causal story: who does what, why, under what incentives, controls, opportunities, or strains. Make it a *process*, not a regression coefficient. 3. **Observable implications.** What we should see if the mechanism operates — and what we should *not* see. These become the tests in `
- When to trigger
- Build the argument
- Engage the theoretical tradition (the Criminology move)
- The "portability" test (Criminology-specific)
- Anti-patterns
- What "engaging the theory" means to an ASC reviewer (calibration grid)
- Worked vignette: from finding to mechanism (illustrative)
- Theory-side referee pushback (with the Criminology fix)
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the crim-theory-building skill do?
Use when building the theoretical argument of a Criminology (ASC / Wiley) manuscript into a field-level contribution. Criminology rewards an explicit mechanism, scope conditions, and observable implications over a bare crime correlation, whether the work tests, extends, or adjudicates a criminological theory. Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill crim-theory-building --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 984 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.