ABSTRACT
Amajor concern of criminology is why people commit crime. However,there is no one accepted explanation of why people carry out criminal acts; instead, there are many different theories as to why people commit behaviour of this nature. This chapter seeks to provide a brief introduction to some of the main explanations that have been offered by criminologists as to the cause of criminal and deviant behaviour. In particular it will:
Discuss the key features of classicist criminology and identify the reforms associated with this approach.
