There are the sociological, psychological, biological and social psychology theories on crime

Structural says that barriers exist that promote crime such as language and financial barriers while the subcultural model says that various groups like gangs hold different beliefs which clash with those of normal society

Both genes and physiology play roles but neurotransmitters such as serotonin play key roles. Prefrontal cortex activity is key and the MAOA gene on the X chromosome is a likely culprit as well. Maltreatment as a child doesn't exactly help things

Psychological theories of criminal behavior emphasize criminal thinking patterns or a personality defect such as psychopathy

Social-psychological theories view criminal behavior as a learned response resulting from classical conditioning, reinforcement, observation/modeling and social labeling

Anomie is a sense of alienation or meaninglessness

ASPD is a pervasive apttern of disregard for (and violation of) the rights of others that begins in childhoodd or early adolescence and continues into adulthood

The bilological theory of crime is an explanation for the causes of criminal behavior that uses hereditary and constitutional characteristics of the lawbreaker

Classical conditioning is the procedure in which one learns to associate a new repsonse with a stimulus

A concordance rate means that the extent of similarity in a behavior or chacteristic between two twins

A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that, through association, comes to elicit a learned repsonse

Containment theory is the proposition that societal pressure controls the rate of crime

Control theory is the proposition that people will act in an antisocial way unless they are prevented from doing so

Crimonology is the study of crime and criminal behavior

The differential association approach is the approach to crimonology that says that criminal behavior requires socialization into a system of values conductive to violating the law; thus, the potential criminal develops definitions of behavior that make deviant conduct seem acceptable

The DART is a learning-theory approach that asserts that criminal behavior is the result of socialization into a system of values that is conducive to violations of the law

Executive function is the cognitive ability to plan and regulate behavior carefully

Focal concerns is a theory that explains the criminal activities of lower-class adolescent gangs as an attempt to achieve the ends that are most valued in their culture through behaviors that appear best suited to obtain those ends

Learning theory is a form of criminological theory that emphasizes how specific criminal behaviors are learned directly from reinforcement and modeling influences

Neuroticism is defined as a major dimension of personality involving the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, anger and depression often acccompanied by distressed thinking and behavior

Operant learning is a form of learning in which the consequences of a behavior influence the likelihood of it being performed in the future

The positivist school of criminology is a point of view that emphasized that criminal behavior by a person was determined, rather than a product of free will

Primary deviance is behavior that violates a law or norm for socially acceptable conduct

Psychological theories are scientific principles that are formulated and applied to the analysis and understanding of cognitive and behavioral phenomena. For example, psychological theories of crime emphasize individual differences in behavior and the approaches to thinking, feeling and ecision-making that make some people predisposed to committing criminal acts

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a long-trm pattern fo antisocial behavior and personal characteristics such as shallow emotion, limited capacities for guilt and empathy and a failure to learn from experience

Psychoticism is a major element in Eysenck's theory of personality, characterized by insensitivity, troublemaking and lack of empathy

Racial profiling is the police practice of using race as a factor in determining actions such as traffic stops, arrests and the questioning of suspects

Secondary deviance is creating or increasing the deviant identity of a person using official labels or formal legal sanctions

Social labeling theory is the theory that the stigma of being branded deviant by society can influence an individual's belief about him or herself

Social learning theory is a theory that states that learning occurs within a social context. It argues that behavior in a given situation is adaptive and depends on the consequences associated with actions (rewards, punishments)

The social-psychological theory is a group of theories that propose that crime is learned in a social context, but they differ about what is learned and how it is learned

Sociological theories are a group of theories that maintain that crime results from social or cultural contexts. The various theories emphasize different social featues and differ on the social causes of crime

The stimulation-seeking theory is a theory that claims that the thrill seeking and disruptive behavior of a psychopath serves to increase sensory input and arousal to a more tolerable level

Structural explanations is a concept that certain groups of people suffer fundamental inequalities in opportunities that impair their ability to achieve the goals valued by society

Subcultural explanations are the cubcultural version of sociological theory that maintain that a conflict of norms held by different groups causes criminal behavior. This conflict arises when various groups endorse subcultural norms, pressuring their members to deviate from the norms underlying the criminal law

Threat assessment is a process which involves carefully considering the nature of the threat, the risk posed by the individual and the indicated response to reduce the risk of harmful action

An unconditioned stimulus is an original stimulus no associated with a new or conditioned response

Vicarious learning is learning by observing the actions of another person and their outcomes