Bringing order and insight to a vast field that is constantly evolving, this handbook provides up-to-date, in-depth summaries of the most important theories in criminology, from classic deterrence theory and social disorganization to modern labeling theory and integrated theory. These original essays are clearly and accessibly written by top scholars in the field as well as up-and-coming scholars.

Table of Contents

• Introduction: Theory and Contemporary Criminology
• Theoretical Science
• Theory Within Other Philosophies of the Enterprise
• Summary
• Correlates of Crime
• Introduction
• Sex
• Age
• Race
• Temperament
• Personality
• Self-Control/Self-Regulation
• Family/Parenting Factors
• Theory Testing In Criminology
• Guidelines for Testing Criminological Theories
• Conclusion
• Deterrence
• Introduction
• Effect of Sanction Threat Perceptions on Crime
• Deterrence and the Police
• Deterrence and Imprisonment
• Conclusions
• Contemporary Biosocial Criminology: A Systematic Review of the Literature, 2000–2012
• What is Biosocial Criminology?
• Literature Search Process and Inclusion Criteria
• Findings
• Discussion
• A Developmental Perspective on Adolescent Risk-Taking and Criminal Behavior
• Introduction
• Is Adolescent Crime Normal?
• Why do adolescents engage in crime?
• Should Adolescents be Treated Differently for Their Crimes?
• Conclusion
• Social Disorganization Theory's Greatest Challenge: Linking Structural Characteristics to Crime in Socially Disorganized Communities
• Social Disorganization Theory
• Social Disorganization Theory's Greatest Challenge
• Promising Theoretical Developments
• Conclusion
• Routine Activities, Delinquency, and Youth Convergences
• Why is Important to Analyze Youth Convergences
• Are Youth Hangouts Stable?
• Looking Back: Routine Activity Theory's Novelty in Historical Context
• Evolution from a Strong Sociological Inquiry to a Focused-Situational Analysis
• Looking Through: Completing the Crime Analysis Triangle
• Looking Forward: Sociological Trends from the 1980s on and Beyond
• Identifying Unsupervised Settings as a Priority for Policymakers
• Hangouts as Gateways for Delinquency and Transitional Spaces
• Proposing Ten principles for Routine Activities of Youths and an Eight Supervision-degree Scale
• Final Considerations for Future Research
• Environmental Criminology
• Overview
• Historical and Conceptual Foundations of Environmental Criminology
• Key Perspectives in Environmental Criminology
• Theory for Practice
• Criticisms, Controversies and Future Directions
• Control as an Explanation of Crime and Delinquency
• Introduction and Overview
• What is a Control Theory of Crime?
• Building Blocks: Assumptions of Control Theory
• Sources of Control
• Levels of Explanation: Macro-, Micro-, and Multilevel Control Theories
• Considering Time: Life-course and Developmental Theories
• Challenges and Opportunities for Control Theory
• Conclusion
• Strain, Economic Status, and Crime
• Economic Status and Crime
• Overview of Classic Strain Theory
• Overview of General Strain Theory
• The Impact of Economic Status on Strains
• Conclusion
• Social Learning Theory
• Introduction
• Theoretical Origin
• Core Theoretical Elements
• Empirical Support from a Meta-Analytic Perspective
• Cross-Cultural Tests
• Social Structure Social Learning: A Cross-Level Theoretical Model
• Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
• Cultural Processes, Social Order, and Criminology
• Introduction
• Culture and Deviant Behavior: Early Perspectives
• Cultural Processes and Deviant Behavior: Recent Developments
• Conclusion
• Labeling Theory: Past, Present, and Future
• Introduction
• Emergence of Labeling
• Interest Remains
• Current and Future Prospects
• Conclusion
• Feminist Theory
• Introduction: The Identification, Application, and Advancement of Feminist Theory to Studying Crime
• Feminist Theory Contribution 1: Recognizing the Intersections of Oppression
• Feminist Theory Contribution 2: Feminist Pathways Theory
• Feminist Theory Contribution 3: The Role of Masculinities
• Conclusions
• Critical Criminology
• Introduction
• The Role of Theory
• Mainstream and Critical Criminological Theory
• Critical Criminology
• Integrating Criminological Theories
• Integrating Criminological Theories
• Types of Theoretical Integration
• Controversy Over Theoretical Integration
• Examples of Integrated Theories of Criminal Behavior
• The Future of Theoretical Integration
• Developmental and Life-Course Theories of Crime
• Origins of the Developmental and Life-Course (DLC) Perspective
• Competing Perspectives
• Key DLC Theories
• Future Directions for Research in DLC Criminology
• Conclusion
• Biosocial Bases of Antisocial and Criminal Behavior
• Introduction
• Genetics
• Brain – structural and functional
• Neuropsychology
• Psychophysiology – Autonomic nervous system
• Hormones
• Conclusions
• From Theory to Policy and Back Again
• From Theory to Policy
• Specific Applications of Theory to Policy
• Concluding Thoughts on the Future of Policy and Theory in Criminology
• How Do Criminologists Interpret Statistical Explanation of Crime? A Review of Quantitative Modeling in Published Studies
• Introduction
• Variance Explained and Its Importance for Evaluating Multivariate Modeling
• The Study
• Results: How Do Criminologists Use R2?
• Discussion and Conclusions
• Acknowledgement
• Situational Theory: The Importance of Interactions and Action Mechanisms in the Explanation of Crime
• The Ambiguous Concept of Situation: Conflating Immediate Environment and Situation
• Routine Activity Theory: A Missed Opportunity?
• Rational Choice Theory: A Good-Enough Theory?
• Situational Action Theory: A Better Alternative?
• Conclusion
• Macro-Level Theory: A Critical Component of Criminological Exploration
• Introduction
• Common Ground and Distinguishing Features
• Organizing and Evaluating Macro-Level Theories of Crime
• Concluding Thoughts
• What International Research Has Told Us About Criminological Theory
• Strain Theories
• Control Theories
• Social Learning Theory
• Other Theories
• Conclusions: Cross-National Research and Criminological Theory Development
• Qualitative Criminology's Contributions to Theory
• What is Qualitative Criminology?
• Legacy of Qualitative Criminology
• Developments in Qualitative Methods
• Developments and Trends in Theory
• Key Findings from Qualitative Criminology
• Conclusion