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31 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. 4 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/jccj31 and id is 1 raw text is: Introduction journal of Contemporary Criminal justice 2015, Vol. 31(1) 4-l I Crime-Event Criminology: @2014 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: An Overview sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1043986214552601 ccj.sagepub.com SAGE Pamela Wilcox' and Brooke Miller Gialopsos2 Traditional criminology is overwhelmingly offender-focused, with the primary ques- tion driving the field being, What explains variation in criminal behavior-why do some individuals offend while others do not? This criminology, which seeks to unearth the underlying causes of offending, provides us with many theories. Each theory identifies a unique variable or set of variables thought to explain an individual's inclination to offend, or criminality. For example, theories suggest that low self- control, school failure, peer pressure, unemployment, and community poverty-to name just a few-predispose one toward offending. Thus, individuals exposed to higher levels of such variables are presumed to be at risk of initiating or continuing criminal behavior. Approaches to crime prevention often follow suit by attempting to reduce or pre- vent criminality. In particular, (social) developmental crime prevention focuses on tackling the underlying risk factors for becoming an offender (e.g., Welsh & Farrington, 2012). Indeed, a whole host of programs or policies exist in an attempt to reverse the criminogenic risk factors identified by traditional criminological theories. Programs teaching social competency to youth, providing pre-school education to disadvantaged children, and (re)training potential employees for workforce demands are just but a few examples. A number of such programs have been shown to be at least modestly successful in reducing crime (see, for example, Losel & Bender, 2012; Schindler & Yoshikawa, 2012; Sherman et al., 1997). Still, the potential risk factors for offending are incredibly numerous, as indicated by the dauntingly long list of criminological theories. In fact, the recently published Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory docu- mented nearly 300 such theories (Cullen & Wilcox, 2010). With so many potential causes of offending-and, thus, so many risk factors to address if criminality is to be prevented-it is no wonder that a significant number of individuals fall through the 'University of Cincinnati, OH, USA 2Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati, OH, USA Corresponding Author: Pamela Wilcox, School of Criminal justice, University of Cincinnati, Box 210389, Cincinnati, OH 45221- 0389, USA. Email: Pamela.Wilcox@uc.edu

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