ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part discusses social action theories – why people decide to commit crime and what their motivations are in certain circumstances. It explains desistance theories – why it is that having previously committed crime most stop doing so. Social control theory is fundamentally derived from a conception of human nature that proposes that there are no natural limits on elementary human needs and desires. The early control theories attach much more importance to psychological factors in their analysis of deviance and conformity. The life course perspective has sought to offer a comprehensive outlook on the study of criminal activity considering the multitude of factors which impact on offending across different time periods and contexts. The policy implications that emerge from interactional theory similarly involve focusing on the mechanisms of constructing social controls and decreasing access to delinquent peers.
