Explaining Deviant/Violent Behavior—A Review of Current U. S. Literature on the Basis of Classical Theories

Abstract

The article introduces the relevant variables gender, race, social inequality, and regional location and their impact on deviance and violence as discussed in current U.S. sociological and criminological journals and reviews their validity in traditional and innovative theories. The question of why people commit delinquent acts has occupied the minds of social scientists since the nineteenth century. Many of those early theories have been further developed and dominate today’s discussion. Others have lost partial or complete support over the last decades. The explanation of delinquent behavior varies widely in substance and empirical verification. No theory can be used to explain all delinquency or even a certain type of it. The theories introduced in this article are based on anomie, strain, social disorganization, differential opportunity, control, and self control. They vary greatly in the degree of individual responsibility and societal liability. There is no unifying trait that can be used to connect the diverse and often competing explanations. The article closes with a brief discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of those theories.