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The following is a list of some theories that have been developed to explain why people do or do not commit crime. Each theory lists the theorists who developed it and a brief explanation of the theory.

Routine Activities Theory by Felson and Cohen

Variables that effect a criminal event are:

• Motivated offenders

• Suitable targets

• Capable guardians

The rate of criminal victimization is increased when there is a convergence in space and time of the three elements.

Theory of the Born Criminal by Lombroso

• Criminals are physically different from law-abiding people and these differences demonstrate the biological causes of criminal behavior.

• Born criminal is an "atavism," a throwback to an earlier stage of evolution.

• Insane criminal is mentally unfit for society.

• Criminaloids are motivated by passion and have an uncontrollable urge to commit crime.

• Theory of Super-Male Criminal by Fox

• XYY chromosomes in certain males make them super males and prone to be violent criminals.

Psychoanalytic Theory by Friedlander

• Looks into the mind of the criminal. 

• Crime is only a symptom of the psychic conflict between the id, ego, and super ego. 

• Crime arises from abnormal maturation, poor early relationships with parents, or repressed sexuality or guilt.

Personality Theory by Hathaway

Criminals have abnormal, inadequate, or specifically criminal personalities that differentiate them from law-abiding people.

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