The Meaning of Race Race, History and Culture in Western Society

Why do people commit crimes? How do we control crime? The theories thatcriminologists use to answer these questions are built on a number ofunderlying assumptions, including those about the nature of crime, freewill, human nature, and society. These assumptions have a fundamentalimpact on criminology: they largely determine what criminologists study,the causes they examine, the control strategies they recommend, and howthey test their theories and evaluate crime-control strategies. InToward a Unified Criminology, noted criminologist Robert Agnewprovides a critical examination of these assumptions, drawing on a rangeof research and perspectives to argue that these assumptions are toorestrictive, unduly limiting the types of "crime" that are explored, thecauses that are considered, and the methods of data collection andanalysis that are employed. As such, they undermine our ability toexplain and control crime. Agnew then proposes an alternative set ofassumptions, drawing heavily on both mainstream and critical theories ofcriminology, with the goal of laying the foundation for a unifiedcriminology that is better able to explain a broader range of crimes.