Assembling the latest evidence from the fields of sociology, criminology, economics, medicine, biology, and psychology and exploring the effects of such factors as gender, age, race, and family, two eminent social scientists frame a groundbreaking theory of criminal behavior.

Includes index.

[Pt.] I. Explaining crime. Crime and its explanation ; A theory of criminal behavior -- [Pt.] II. Constitutional factors. Constitutional factors in criminal behavior ; Gender ; Age ; Intelligence ; Personality and psychopathology -- [Pt.] III. Developmental factors. Families ; Broken and abusive families ; School -- [Pt.] IV. Social context. Community ; Labor markets ; Television and mass media ; Alcohol and heroin ; Altering the social context -- [Pt.] V. History and culture. Historical trends in crime ; Crime across cultures ; Race and crime -- [Pt.] VI. Crime, human nature, and society. Punishment and personal responsibility ; Human nature and political order.