NCJ Number
109068
Date Published
1987
Length
335 pages
Annotation
Drawing on theory and research in the social, behavioral, and life sciences, this text proposes a model of transient criminality that suggests that behavioral deviance is the result of stressful events combined with the absence or destruction of social bonds and supports. It explains how ordinarily law-abiding persons can become involved in criminal acts.
Abstract
The text posits a closely argued synthesis of situational factors and social and life-sciences concepts to explain stress-induced crime, and illustrates how the resulting model can explain theft, burglary, vandalism, homicide, assault, and rape. Discussions focus on the link between stress and criminality, existing models of situational crime, a new model of motivational behavior and aggression, a critique of the concept of conscience, the application of a model to specific types of crime, and various cognitive transformations in relation to crime. Chapter footnotes, index, and approximately 950-item bibliography. (Publisher summary modified)