Crime is an often unwelcome but thoroughly social behavior that can only be understood within its societal context. This reader makes this clear by offering a selection of classic and contemporary foundational texts on the development of criminological theories, while adopting an international perspective. It begins with a situational assessment of deviance research by H. S. Becker, which is presented in German for the first time. Thematically, the volume covers the entire range of criminologically relevant topics, from Durkheim and his analysis of the functions of crime to the conceptualizations of a disciplinary and control society in the works of Foucault, Deleuze, and Garland.