A list of key theorists related to juvenile delinquency with links to their webpages and photographs.

• Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794) and deterrence theory
• Jeremy Bentham (1784–1832) and utilitarianism

Early Biological Theories of Crime

Pre-Darwin perspectives

• Craniometry
• Phrenology
• Physiognomy

Post-Darwin perspectives

• Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909) and atavism
• William Sheldon (1898–1977) and somatotyping
• Henry Goddard (1866–1957) and feeblemindedness

Early Social Structural Theories

• Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874)
• Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)
• Willem Bonger (1876–1940)

Modern Biological Perspectives

• Family studies
  • Richard Dugdale (1841–1883)
  • Henry Goddard (1866–1957)
• Twin studies
• Adoption studies
• Studies of twins separated at birth
• Cytogenetic studies examining XYY chromosome abnormality
• Hormones
• Neurotransmitters
• Neurophysiology--the Central Nervous System (CNS)

Modern Psychological Theories

• Richard Herrnstein (1930–1994) and Charles Murray (1943–) The Bell Curve
• Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) psychoanalytic theories
• Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) Theory of moral development
• John Bowlby (1907–1990) Attachment theory
• Personality theories
• Psychopathology (mental disorders)

Strain/Anomie Theories

• Robert K. Merton (1910–2003) anomie theory
• Robert Agnew (1953–) general strain theory
• Stephen F. Messner (1951–) and Richard Rosenfeld (1948–) institutional anomie theory

Social Disorganization Perspective

• Clifford Shaw (1896–1957) and Henry D. McKay (1899–1980) social disorganization theory
• Robert J. Sampson (1963–) collective efficacy

Learning Theories

• Edwin H. Sutherland (1883–1950) differential association theory
• C. Ray Jeffery (1921–2007) differential reinforcement theory
• Ronald L. Akers (1939–) social learning theory

Subcultural Theories

• Albert K. Cohen (1918–2014) theory of blocked opportunity/gang formation
• Walter B. Miller (1920–2004) theory of focal concerns
• Richard A. Cloward (1926–2001) and Lloyd E. Ohlin (1918–2008)
• Mervin Eugene Wolfgang (1924–1998) and Franco Ferracuti (1927–1996) subculture of violence
• Elijah Anderson (1943–) code of the street
• John Hagan (1946–) social embeddedness

Control Theories/Neoclassical Criminology

• Albert J. Reiss (1922–2006) three types of controls
• Jackson Toby (1925–) stake in conformity
• F. Ivan Nye (1918–2014) family controls
• Gresham M. Sykes (1922–2010) and David Matza (1930–) drift theory

• Walter C. Reckless (1899–1988) containment theory
• Travis Hirschi (1935–2017) social bonding/control theory
• Michael R. Gottfredson (1951–) and Travis Hirschi (1935–2017) general theory of crime/self-control theory

Modern Classical Perspective

• Rational choice theory
• Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson (1947-) routine activities theory/lifestyle theory

Social Reaction, Critical, and Feminist Theories

• Labeling/social reaction theory
  • Frank Tannenbaum (1893–1969) dramatization of evil
  • Edwin M. Lemert (1912–1996) primary deviance and secondary deviance
• Marxist Theories
  • Willem Bonger (1876–1940)
  • Richard Quinney (1934–)
• Conflict Theories
  • Thorsten Sellin (1896–1994)
  • George Vold (1896–1967)
  • Austin Turk (1934–)
• Feminist Theories
  • Liberal feminism
  • Meda Chesney-Lind’s (1947–) feminist pathway model

• Marxist feminism
• Black feminist criminology 
• Radical feminism

Life-Course Perspective

• Robert J. Sampson (1963–) and John H. Laub (1953–) age-graded theory or life-course theory
• Terrie Moffitt (1955–). Moffitt (1993) developmental taxonomy
• James C. Howell (1942–) the risk-protection framework