From a sociological perspective, explanations for criminal- ity are found in two levels which are the
subculture and the structural explanations. The sociological explanations emphasize aspects of
societal arrangements that are external to the actor and compelling. A sociological explanation is
concerned with how the structure of a society or its institutional practices or its persisting cultural
themes affect the conduct of its members. Individual differences are denied or ignored, and the
explanation of the overall collective behavoir is sought in the patterning of social arrangements that
is considered to be both "outside" the actor and "prior to him" (Sampson, 1985). That is, the social
patterns of power or of institutions which are held to be determinative of human action are also
seen as having been in existence before any particular actor came on the scene. In lay language,
sociological explanations of crime place the blame on something social that is prior to, external to,
and compelling of any particular person. Sociological explanations do not deny the importance of
human motivation. However, they locate the source of motives outside the individual and in the
cultural climate in which he lives. Political philosophers, sociologists, and athropologists have long
observed that a condition of social life is that not all things are allowed. Standards of behavior are
both a pro- duct of our living together and a requirement if social life is to be orderly. The concept
of a culture refers to the perceived standards of behavior, observa...