ABSTRACT
Introduction You might think that the question ‘What causes crime?’ is the most central or important in criminology. Control theory, however, proceeds from a different question and makes its case that this is a better starting point. Rather than focusing on deviance and seeking to explain the causes of crime, control theory focuses on conformity and asks why most of us don’t commit crime more often. Its central argument, as the term implies, is that crime is a normal phenomenon and is something that should be expected in the absence of adequate controls. Control theory also takes a rather different view of human nature from some other criminological theories. Baldly put, control theory tends to assume that human conduct is driven by desires and needs and that, as a consequence, we are all predisposed to deviance. Social order is maintained by bringing such desires under control. The central concern of control theory is conformity rather than deviance .
