Is there a way to prevent or reduce crimes? Whether it’s a robbery, theft, murder or kidnapping, it’s difficult to pinpoint why some people commit crimes. Are criminals born or bred? Sociologists and criminologists believe that a study into criminal behavior can help to answer some of these questions. Here’s a guide to criminal behavior.

Nature vs. Nurture

• Genetic & Environmental Influences: A study into whether criminal behavior is influenced by genetics or the environment.
• Nature vs. Nature: Discussion of a case whereby a criminal was diagnosed to be genetically violent. Should he be given a lesser sentence?
• How Much Free Will Do We Really Have?: An essay which tackles the question about free will, and fate.
• Behavioral Genetics: A detailed study into how behavior is influenced by genetics.
• Youth Gangs & At-Risk Youths: Discusses if criminal behavior is nurtured in certain environments.
• History: Describes how the debate first started, and who first proposed it.
• Inborn or Learned?: In-depth look into the nature vs. nurture argument.
• Public Genome Project: Discusses specific aspects of the research being done in the nature v nurture debate.
• Piaget’s Theory: Explains Jean Piaget’s theories, which he began researching in the 1920s.
• Personality: Short essay that uses statistics to answer the nature vs. nurture argument.
• Free Will vs. Determinism: Critical analysis on whether criminal behavior is influenced by free will or determinism.

Criminal Psychology

• SPCP: Homepage of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology with its own journal, and other information.
• Criminal Psychology: Online version of the definitive book by Hans Gross.
• Criminal Profiling: Discusses the myth and reality of criminal profiling.
• Eyewitness Identification: A research laboratory in the University of Texas at El Paso that focuses on improving eyewitness accounts in creating the profile of criminals.
• Ethics: Outlines the ethics for forensic psychiatry practice.
• “Sherlock Holmes of the Couch”: Many part article about Dr. James A. Brussel, who provided a profile of the Mad Bomber of New York, helping the police to nab him.
• Criminal Profiling: Research center with information on profiling types, case analysis, legal issues, literature, and more.
• Pragmatic Solutions: In-depth study into the development of offender profiling to achieve a more pragmatic model.
• Problems & Prospects: Explores the problems and prospects of criminal profiling.
• Typological Offender Profiling: Looks at typological profiling as opposed to geographic profiling of offenders.
• Criminal Investigative Psychology: An overview of the subject.

Other Criminal Behavior Theories

• Criminal Behavior Theories: Introduction to the many theories of criminal behavior.
• Classical School: Discusses classical criminal behavior theories of Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.
• Of Crimes and Punishments: E-text of Cesare Beccaria’s treatise on crime and punishment.
• An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation: A place to read the online version of Jeremy Bentham’s classic work.
• Theodicy: A theory which explains that criminal behavior may be linked to demonic influences.
• Anomie Theory: Shows that criminal behavior is not influenced by biology but failure in achieving social success.
• Social Learning Theory: A study into computer criminal behavior by using the social learning theory.
• Rational Choice Theory: Explains that criminal behavior is caused by rational analysis.
• Labeling Theory: Another criminology theory that seeks to explain criminal behavior.
• Differential Association: A theory that proposes that criminal behavior is influenced by interaction with bad company.
• Culture Conflict Theory: Brief description of this crime theory.