Theories of Crime

Abstract

Each chapter concludes with Summary and Conclusion, Key Terms, Suggested Readings, and Notes. 1.Theoretical Perspectives in Criminology. The Importance of Theory in Criminology. Bad Theory, Good Theory, Better Theory: How Do We Judge? Paradigms. Classical Criminology. The Positivist School. The Marxist Paradigm. 2.The Born Criminal: Biological and Physiological Theories of Crime. Physical Type Theories. Phrenology: Grandparent of the Physical Type Perspective. Atavism. Earnest A. Hooton: Lombroso Revisited. Body Build and Crime. It Runs in the Family: Crime and Heredity. General Pedigree or Family Studies. Twin Studies. Adoption Studies. Faulty Chromosomes. XYY Syndrome. Other Potential Biological Contributors to Crime Causation. Hormonal Imbalance and Crime: My Hormones Made Me Do It. Crime and the Brain. Diet and Crime: You Are What You Eat? 3.The Criminal Mind: Psychological and Psychiatric Theories of Crime. Too Dumb to Know Better: The IQ/Crime Controversy. Early Intelligence Tests and Crime. The Criminal Personality. Psychoanalytic Views of Crime. Other Approaches to Crime and Personality. Crime and Mental Illness. Studying Mental Illness and Criminality. Mental Illnesses Commonly Associated with Crime. A Note about the Role of Drugs and Alcohol. The Role of Psychiatry in the Criminal Justice System. 4.Sociological Theories of Crime I: Crime and Social Organization. The Chicago School. Crime and Social Disorganization. The Chicago School's Descendants. Anomie Theory. Durkheim's Theory of Anomie. Merton's Theory of Anomie. Subcultural Theories. Cohen's Theory of the Delinquent Subculture. Other Subcultural Theories. Strengths and Weaknesses of Subcultural Theories. Crime and Opportunity. Differential Opportunity and Delinquent Subcultures. Women, Crime and Opportunity. Changing the Opportunity Structure: Public Policy Initiatives. Agnew's General Strain Theory. 5. Sociological Theories of Crime II: Crime and Social Processes. Sutherland's Differential Association Theory. Sutherland's Nine Propositions. Strengths and Weaknesses of Differential Association Theory. Sutherland's Legacy. Aker's Social Learning Theory. Differential Identification and Differential Anticipation. Control Theory. Hirschi's Control Theory. Tittle's Control Balance Theory. Self-Control and Crime. A General Theory of Crime or a Limited One? Neutralization Theory. Evaluating Neutralization Theory. Self-Esteem and Crime. Crime and Stigma: The Labeling Perspective. The Relativity of Crime. Social Reaction and Commitment to a Deviant Career. The Empirical Validity of Labeling Theory. What is to Be Done? 6.Crime and Power: Radical Criminologies. Origins and Antecedents. The Criminology of Willem Bonger. Early Radical Criminology. Crime and Privilege. Crime and Oppression. The Strengths and Weaknesses of Instrumental Marxism. Is the Criminal Justice System Biased Against the Poor? Structural Criminology. Crime and Power Relations. Other Recent Developments in Radical Criminology. Left Realism. Peacemaking Criminology. Postmodern Criminology. 7.Gender, Crime and Justice: Feminist Criminologies. What is Feminism? Liberal Feminism and Criminology. The Gender Gap in Crime. Power-Control Theory. Radical Feminist Criminology. Socialist Feminist Criminology. Feminism and the Future of Criminology. Appendix: Methods of Criminological Research. The Research Process. Formulating the Research Problem. Research Design. Sampling. Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement. Gathering Data. Survey Research. Field Observation. Unobtrusive Measures.