ABSTRACT
This chapter follows the development of criminology by exploring three major areas of theoretical focus: individual choice, heredity and/or biology, and social factors. Examples of the first orientation include both classical criminology and more recent decision-based theories of crime. Examples of the second include Lombrosian criminology with its influential focus on heredity, and contemporary work on epigenetics and crime. Examples of the third include the nineteenth-century French school of criminology, and a wide range of twentieth-century theories that see crime as a product of socio-economic circumstance. The chapter concludes with a discussion of critical criminology.
