Paper Summary:

The paper outlines the rational choice perspective of crime,
Durkheim's anomie theory of crime and Merton's social strain theories. The paper explains the theory of the class struggle that produced conflict between different segments of society as well as the view of radical criminology. Finally, the paper addresses the more contemporary ideas of cultural deviance, subcultures,
radical feminism and delinquent female subcultures. The paper comes to the conclusion that the most comprehensive explanation of crime in contemporary society probably includes elements of many theories and decreased reliance on any single perspective in particular.

Outline:
Introduction
Considering Various Explanations for Crime
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Several hundred years of social theorizing have produced numerous different explanations for the evolution of criminal conduct in human societies. Initially, criminal behavior was considered to be mainly a function of rational choices made by individuals for whom crime presented greater opportunities than conventional, socially acceptable avenues of providing income and tangible conveniences. Alternative, biologically-based explanations conceived of crime as behavior determined by inherent biological inclination, going so far as to try to predict criminal conduct by dubious disciplines like phrenology."

Sample of Sources Used:

• John Adler, John Mueller, and John Laufer. Criminology (6th Edition). City, State: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
• Adler J, Mueller J, and Laufer J. (2008). Criminology (6th Edition). City, State: McGraw-Hill.

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