NCJ Number
115630
Editor(s)
W S Laufer,
F Adler
Date Published
1989
Length
159 pages
Annotation
Eight original papers on criminological theory consist of theoretical deliberations, theory construction, and tests of the validity and reliability of extant theories of crime and criminality.
Abstract
The opening paper presents principles useful in evaluating any theory, using illustrative material from Mark Twain. The second paper describes how the modal conservative, liberal, and radical criminologists view, explain, and address terrorism; notes the shortcomings of each; and suggests a more promising hybrid approach. A third paper cautions against developing a crime-causes theory of corporate crime that focuses on the organization rather than the individuals within it. Another paper proposes a crime theory that affirms society's ability to control crime without fundamental reconstruction of itself or the persons within it, followed by a paper that proposes the integration of biological, psychological, and sociological theories of criminal behavior into an interdisciplinary theory of behavior. One paper reviews the literature relevant to Eysenck's theory implicating three major personality dimensions in criminal behavior: psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism. A review of factors influencing the low crime rate in Japan notes that the Japanese social control model of crime control is not the cause but the result of a social and cultural organization that promotes civility and a low rate of street crime. The concluding paper discusses and distinguishes crime-cause theories and then addresses metatheoretical issues, suggesting that adequate theories should meet criteria that include giving an account of 'pretested facts.' Chapter references, name index, subject index.