Table Of ContentThe Handbook of Criminological Theory
Wiley Handbooks in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Series Editor: Charles F. Wellford, University of Maryland College Park.
The handbooks in this series will be comprehensive, academic reference works on
leading topics in criminology and criminal justice.
The Handbook of Law and Society
Edited by Austin Sarat and Patricia Ewick
The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice
Edited by Marvin D. Krohn and Jodi Lane
The Handbook of Gangs
Edited by Scott H. Decker and David C. Pyrooz
The Handbook of Deviance
Edited by Erich Goode
The Handbook of Criminological Theory
Edited by Alex R. Piquero
The Handbook of
Criminological Theory
Edited by
Alex R. Piquero
This edition first published 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
The handbook of criminological theory / edited by Alex R. Piquero.
pages cm. – (Wiley handbooks in criminology and criminal justice)
Summary: “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”– Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-51238-8 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-119-11075-0 (paper)
1. Criminology–Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Piquero, Alex R.
HV6025.H2783 2015
364.01–dc23
2015016630
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: © bestdesigns / iStockphoto
Set in 10.5/13pt Minion by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India
1 2016
Contents
Notes on Contributors vii
1 Introduction: Theory and Contemporary Criminology 1
Charles R. Tittle
2 Correlates of Crime 18
Matt DeLisi and Michael G. Vaughn
3 Theory Testing In Criminology 37
Travis C. Pratt
4 Deterrence 50
Thomas A. Loughran, Ray Paternoster, and Douglas B. Weiss
5 Contemporary Biosocial Criminology: A Systematic Review
of the Literature, 2000–2012 75
J.C. Barnes, Brian B. Boutwell, and Kevin M. Beaver
6 A Developmental Perspective on Adolescent
Risk‐Taking and Criminal Behavior 100
Elizabeth Cauffman, Caitlin Cavanagh, Sachiko Donley,
and April Gile Thomas
7 Social Disorganization Theory’s Greatest Challenge: Linking Structural
Characteristics to Crime in Socially Disorganized Communities 121
Charis E. Kubrin and James C. Wo
8 Routine Activities, Delinquency, and Youth Convergences 137
Jose R. Agustina and Marcus Felson
9 Environmental Criminology 156
Aiden Sidebottom and Richard Wortley
vi Contents
10 Control as an Explanation of Crime and Delinquency 182
Chester L. Britt and Michael Rocque
11 Strain, Economic Status, and Crime 209
Robert Agnew
12 Social Learning Theory 230
Ronald L. Akers and Wesley G. Jennings
13 Cultural Processes, Social Order, and Criminology 241
Mark T. Berg, Eric A. Sevell, and Eric A. Stewart
14 Labeling Theory: Past, Present, and Future 271
Ruth Triplett and Lindsey Upton
15 Feminist Theory 290
Joanne Belknap
16 Critical Criminology 301
Martin D. Schwartz and Henry H. Brownstein
17 Integrating Criminological Theories 318
Marv Krohn and Jeffrey T. Ward
18 Developmental and Life‐Course Theories of Crime 336
Tara Renae McGee and David P. Farrington
19 Biosocial Bases of Antisocial and Criminal Behavior 355
Frances R. Chen, Yu Gao, Andrea L. Glenn, Sharon Niv,
Jill Portnoy, Robert Schug, Yaling Yang, and Adrian Raine
20 From Theory to Policy and Back Again 380
Scott H. Decker
21 How Do Criminologists Interpret Statistical Explanation of Crime?
A Review of Quantitative Modeling in Published Studies 395
David Weisburd, Breanne Cave, and Alex R. Piquero
22 Situational Theory: The Importance of Interactions and
Action Mechanisms in the Explanation of Crime 415
Per‐Olof H. Wikström and Kyle Treiber
23 Macro‐Level Theory: A Critical Component of Criminological Exploration 445
Eric P. Baumer and Ashley N. Arnio
24 What International Research Has Told Us About Criminological Theory 475
Olena Antonaccio and Ekaterina V. Botchkovar
25 Qualitative Criminology’s Contributions to Theory 497
Andy Hochstetler and Heith Copes
Index 521
Notes on Contributors
Robert Agnew is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Sociology at Emory
University. His research focuses on the causes of crime and delinquency, particularly
his general strain theory of delinquency. His recent works include Criminological
Theory: Past to Present (Oxford, 2015); Juvenile Delinquency: Causes and Control
(Oxford, 2015); Toward A Unified Criminology: Integrating Assumptions about
Crime, People, and Society (NYU Press, 2011); Pressured into Crime: An Overview of
General Strain Theory (Oxford, 2006); and Why Do Criminals Offend: A General
Theory of Crime and Delinquency (Oxford, 2005). He has served as President of the
American Society of Criminology, is a Fellow of that organization, and is on the
Southern Sociological Society Roll of Honor.
Jose R. Agustina is an Associate professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Barcelona). He has recently been Visiting Scholar
at Texas State University in 2012 where he carried out a research project on juveniles’
hangouts. Besides teaching at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC),
Barcelona, Spain, he has worked as a part‐time magistrate at the High Criminal Court in
Barcelona. His research interests encompass not only crime theory and crime analysis
but also crime policy and legal issues in a variety of fields, from cybercrime, business
crime prevention or privacy concerns to youth crime and criminal justice issues.
Ronald L. Akers, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Sociology at the
University of Florida. He is former Chair of the Department of Sociology and
Director of the Center for Studies in Criminology and Law. Dr. Akers has authored
over 100 journal articles and book chapters.
Olena Antonaccio is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Miami.
Her interests include theory testing and development, and comparative criminology.
Ashley N. Arnio is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Texas
State University. Her research interests are primarily in the areas of communities
viii Notes on Contributors
and crime and law and social control. She has explored the first theme in several
spatial analyses addressing the link between the contemporary foreclosure crisis and
crime rates. More recently, her focus has been on the latter theme, specifically exam-
ining aggregate‐level racial disparities in imprisonment rates during the period of
mass incarceration.
J.C. Barnes is an associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University
of Cincinnati. He is a biosocial criminologist whose research seeks to understand how
genetic and environmental factors combine to impact criminological phenomena.
Eric P. Baumer is Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Pennsylvania State
University. His research focuses on temporal and spatial dimensions of crime and
justice, and especially how structural and cultural features of communities affect
crime, social control, and other aspects of human behavior. He has examined these
issues empirically in multi‐level studies of the influence of community characteris-
tics on individual attitudes and behaviors, macro‐level studies of spatial and temporal
patterns in crime and social control, and in case studies of crime and justice in
Iceland, Malta, and Ireland. Recent publications have appeared in Criminology,
American Sociological Review, and the American Journal of Sociology.
Kevin M. Beaver is a professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice
at Florida State University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in the Center for
Social and Humanities Research at King Abdulaziz University. His research focuses
on the biosocial underpinnings to antisocial behaviors.
Joanne Belknap is a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, and
is Past‐President of the American Society of Criminology (2013–14). She authored
the book, The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime, and Justice, currently in the fourth
edition. Her current research focuses on intimate partner abuse, women’s pathways
to jail, and sexual minority status delinquents.
Mark T. Berg, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Iowa. His current research interests include contextual processes,
adolescent development, violence and aggression.
Ekaterina V. Botchkovar is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Northeastern
University. Her interests include comparative criminology and theory development.
Brian B. Boutwell is an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice in
the School of Social Work and associate professor (secondary appointment) in the
Department of Epidemiology at Saint Louis University. His research interests include
the evolution of complex outcomes such as violence and chronic criminality, as well
as the genetic basis of social behaviors.
Chester L. Britt is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Iowa State
University. His research interests include criminological theory, criminal justice
decision‐making, and quantitative research methods.
