In this chapter, Professor Paul Knepper describes how the thinking about what causes crime has changed from the 1800s to the 1960s. Causes of crime have changed from more about individual people (size and shape of the brain and their biological traits) to more social explanations (neighborhood upheaval). These theories helped create the discipline of criminology after WWII. Later, researchers started to question these theories and federal government policies in response to crime.
Paul Knepper, “Theories of Crime in American History” Pp 23-42 in James Campbell and Vivien Miller, eds, The Routledge History of Crime in America. New York: Routledge, 2025.