ABSTRACT
A question we have yet to address, but which is arguably the most fundamental in criminology, is 'why is there crime at all in society?' We have argued throughout the book that the possibility of crime depends on given acts being proscribed by the criminal law, that is, that crime depends on law, and on particular instances of action being identified and interpreted as crimes, that is, that crime depends on crime-processing agencies, conventionally the police and the courts. But these matters presuppose that 'society' should define any acts in the first place as criminal. Why does criminalization occur at all?
