How does criminal justice differ from criminology? Even though there are a lot of similarities between the two disciplines, criminal justice is mostly interested in studying different institutions of social control, like police departments, courts, prisons, etc. Criminology, on the other hand, is concerned primarily with understanding the causes of crime and how society defines and enforces laws. In order to come up with these explanations, or generalizations, criminologists create theories, which are similar to theories from the natural sciences and other social sciences.

Whether we know it or not, all of us rely on theories. When we read in the newspaper about a homicide or an increase in gang violence, we try to understand the motives or backgrounds of the people involved in these crimes. We probably think of typical causes for these crimes; we may think that the criminals came from broken families, that they got involved with the "wrong" crowd when young, that their neighborhoods had poor schools, or even that there might be some psychological impairment affecting their behavior. Although these kinds of everyday assumptions are usually too simplistic, they are still theories because they are generalizations, which can be used to explain not only that particular crime, but all similar crimes. Criminological theories thus can explain a wide range of criminal behavior, identify potential criminals, and suggest the best ways to handle crime. Many theories also focus on how and why lawmakers create certain laws and why police are more or less likely to focus on certain crimes and individuals.

In your own words, explain what a criminological theory is.