ABSTRACT
Introduction In this chapter, we examine the use of social process theories to explain criminal behavior. Social process theories assume that everyone has the potential to commit crime and that criminology is not an innate human characteristic. As these theories depend on the processes of interaction between individuals and society, they are also referred to as the interactionist perspectives of crime causation. The major social process theories include differential association, labeling, control, interaction, social learning, and containment.
