According to German sociologist Henner Hess, the emergence and consolidation of criminal behaviour can be explained by careers. The actor glides processually, pushed through the outside world and situation, but ultimately individually chosen, into a delinquent role. Main proponent Henner Hess Theory Hess’ basic assumption regarding crime theories is that
control
Power-Control-Theory (Hagan)
John Hagan’s Power Control Theory explains differences in crime rates between men and women. It attributes them to the fact that girls and boys in families are brought up differently. While boys have more freedom and are therefore more prone to delinquency, girls are more strongly regulated. As a result,
Two-Path-Theory (Moffitt)
The Two-Path-Theory is based, among other things, on a longitudinal study on the crime prevalence of 1,000 New Zealand youths (“The Thousand Children of Dunedin” or “Dunedin Study”). The first and larger group of adolescents showed the usual degree of behavioural abnormalities in adolescence. The deviant behaviour of the subjects
Control
In contrast to most other crime theories, control theories do not try to explain deviant behaviour, but conformal behaviour. So the question asked here is: Why do some people not become criminals? Control theories assume that basically everyone would be motivated to behave differently. Different forms of control prevent them
Social disorganization (Shaw & McKay)
[also known as: Social Ecology, Area Approach, cultural transmission] Theories of social disorganization suggest that crime rates are constant in areas with certain ecological conditions, such as high unemployment, population mobility, or material decay. Such conditions prevent social organization and cohesion in the neighborhood, and thus informal social control of
