Tarde, Gabriel

(1843-1904)

   sociologist

   Born in Sarlat, Dordogne, Gabriel Tarde, a noted criminologist and sociologist, as well as the author of works on problem of criminality, was the principal French representative of the psychological school of sociology. After serving as a provincial magistrate, he was appointed director of criminal statistics at the Ministry of Justice (1894), and later (1900) became professor of modern philosophy at the collège de France. In La Criminalité comparée (1886), he challenged the theories of Cesare Lom-broso and developed the thesis that social phenomena are the main causes of crime. Tarde, in his social philosophy, posited that historical progress is the result of a conflict between the inventive and the conservative aspects of society and distinguished three recurring phases of social development: repetition, opposition, and adaptation. His other works include Études pénales et sociales (1892), Études de psychologie sociale (1898).