Which term is the academic study of theories explaining criminal behavior?

• A. The Crime and Deviance Channel
• B. Criminological Theory
• C. Sociology of Crime & Deviance
• D. Psychology of Crime

Answer: (B)

Criminological theory focuses on the explanations for why people commit crimes. It’s the part of criminology that collects and analyzes the different theoretical frameworks used to understand criminal behavior, from how social factors and environments influence actions to how individual psychology or biology might play a role. This term is about the explanations themselves—the theories that aim to account for why crime happens and what patterns we see in offending.

The other options describe broader areas or different angles rather than the study of the explanations. The sociology of crime and deviance looks at crime as a social phenomenon and how society defines and responds to deviance. The psychology of crime concentrates on an individual’s mental processes and personal factors. And a non-academic channel isn’t a recognized term in this context. So the term that best captures the academic study of theories explaining criminal behavior is criminological theory.