ABSTRACT
The explanatory principles of control balance have been explicated and shown consistent with the known facts about crime and deviance. The main concept in control balance theory is the control ratio. Thus, the control ratio captures and reflects the meaningful aspects of social class or social status while permitting correction of the explanatory mistakes underlying arguments about socioeconomic status and deviance. Beginning with the concept of a control ratio, the theory adds an underlying causal principle—that deviant behavior is undertaken to accomplish something for the person who commits it. The theory does not identify the exact point along the control ratio continuum at which the chances for defiance begin to exceed the chances for predation. It only specifies that about the first one-third of the continuum of repression will be the zone of predation. Since theoretical work is best pursued as a collective activity, control balance theory should be no more than an intellectual bridge for further advancement.
