Culture consists of patterns of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols. The essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and their attached values. American culture, as mediated through the family, school, marketplace, media, and other institutions, advances high expectations for personal happiness (related to personal achievement and material success) and political and social freedom. Individuals, however, differ in the abilities and resources required for fulfilling high economic, vocational, and social expectations. Falling short of dominant cultural expectations creates dissatisfaction, frustration, and aggression, which translates into deviant and criminal behavior without compensatory behavioral controls. Informal behavioral controls in American society have been undermined by weakening religious beliefs, pragmatic behavioral standards rooted in self-interest, and a philosophy of ethical relativity. In the absence of informal behavioral controls, criminal law and the criminal justice system have become the central regulators of behavior. The system has failed, however, by overcriminalizing noninjurious behavior and undercriminalizing injurious behavior, particularly that committed by corporations. The criminal justice system has failed to act consistently and justly, undermining public confidence in it. The book suggests how cultural values and the criminal justice system may be modified to reduce the influences that foster criminal behavior. Chapter notes, 86-item selected bibliography, and subject index.