While there are many different sociological theories about crime, there are four primary perspectives about deviance: Structural Functionalism, Social Strain Typology, Conflict Theory, and Labeling Theory..
Positivist Theory, classical theory, general theory, life course theory, and Moffit's developmental theory are all criminological theories.
They each propose their own idea from which the criminal behavior derives..
Criminological theories attempt to explain what is often inexplicable and to examine what is often the cruelty, oppression, or even evil some visit on others.
They are sci- entific examinations of a particular social phenomenon..
These sociological criminological theories include: differential association, i.e., an explanation of violence as a certain kind of behavior that is transmitted through generations via learning; strain and institutional anomie (Merton, 1938), where violence is explained as breeding under conditions of a disjuncture .
Functionalism, conflict theory, interactionist theory, and learning theory are briefly described as analytical perspectives developed in sociological and social-psychological theory, and the contribution of each to criminological study is discussed..
Some of the prominent criminology theories discussed in this article include biological theory, classical criminology, critical criminology, cultural criminology, cultural transmission theory of crime, deterrence and rational choice theories of crime, feminist criminology, labeling and symbolic interaction theories of .
The goal of criminological theory is to help one gain an understating of crime and criminal justice.
Theories cover the making and the breaking of the law, criminal and deviant behavior, as well as patterns of criminal activity..
Criminological theories can then be divided into six general groups (normative violations, cultural deviance, rates of deviance, definitions of crime and deviance (criminalization), criminality, and broader human behavior..
