ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reviews the history of constitutive criminology, including its theoretical origins, applications and critiques. It focuses on the growth of anarchist criminology, a theory that builds on the classic political philosophical theory of anarchy. The book discusses the multiple meanings of 'rational' within rational choice theory. It argues that criminology is often not only restricted to single disciplines but also to one stream of thought within a discipline. The book describes the level of analysis from neighbourhoods and cities to the entire society and, like social ecology, addresses issues of the failure of social control. It summarizes the evidence of the correlations between criminal behaviour and neurological, hormonal and twelve biological factors. Criminological theory should explain all forms of criminality, even the ones that appear to be irrational or impulsive.
