ABSTRACT
Theories about crime have many origins. On the one hand, the ideas at the core of our control theory have been expressed in one fashion or another for centuries; it is a perspective with deep roots in philosophy, psychology, economics, and sociology. This chapter expresses the ideas essential to control theory such that they allow us to better comprehend the facts about crime as we appreciate them today. It exegesis of the theory from the point of view of the nature of crime as revealed by research, rather than the point of view of the offender as dictated by theory. Advances in survey research methods applied to delinquency and crime provided a crucial basis of support for the development of control theory, in both Causes and A General Theory. Economic and rational choice models were coming into fashion and pushing aside the overly-deterministic theories of sociology.
