New Directions in Criminological Theory focuses on new approaches to theory construction, with particular emphasis on reformulations and new applications of existing paradigms. It includes an assessment of labeling theory, demonstrating how the approach could become part of a more comprehensive explanation of crime. A case is made for studying crime in terms of the social context in which crimes are conceived, interpreted, and negotiated. The debate between crime-general and crime-specific approaches is further amplified. A rethinking of Hirschi's control theory is presented. The volume includes theoretical discussions of spouse abuse, of punishment, and of power-control models. Additional chapters examine theoretical advances in corporate illegality, employee theft, and the alcohol/crime syndrome.

These original contributions include: Charles F. Wellford and Ruth A. Triplett, “The Future of Labeling Theory”; Austin T. Turk, “A Proposed Resolution of Key Issues in the Political Sociology of Law”; David Weisburd and Lisa Maher, “Contrasting Crime-General and Crime-Specific Theory”; Sally Simpson, “Strategy, Structure, and Corporate Crime”; Edward W. Sieh, “Employee theft”; Robert Nash Parker, “Alcohol and Theories of Homicide”; Kimberly L. Kemph, “The Empirical Status of Hirschi's Control Theory”; Jeffrey Fagan, “The Social Control of Spouse Assualt”; Marc Le Blanc and Aaron Caplan, “Theoretical Formalization, A Necessity”; Michael J. Lynch, “Control Theory and Punishment”; Gary F. Jensen, “Power-Control vs. Social-Control Theories of Common Delinquency”; John Hagan, A.R. Gillis, and John Simpson, “The Power of Control in Sociological Theories of Delinquency.”