ABSTRACT
Criminology and crime fiction have developed many explanations for criminal behaviour. This chapter situates these along a continuum, with some approaches explaining criminal behaviour by focusing on the individual, and others tending to situate criminal behaviour in relation to larger groups and social phenomena. At one end of the spectrum, we find both rational and biological explanations for criminal behaviour; both are well-represented in criminological theory and in crime fiction. At the other, crime is seen as a group phenomenon, or as a manifestation of a total social reality. These views, too, are clearly apparent in both fields.
