STARTING FROM A WORKING DEFINITION OF CRIME AS A BEHAVIORAL ACT WHICH, IF DISCOVERED, BRINGS SOCIETY'S RETRIBUTION UPON ITS PERPETRATOR, MODERN PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES ARE EVALUATED FOR THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS IN THE HUMAN PERSONALITY. DEVIANT CONDUCT IS SAID TO BE INFLUENCED BY THREE MAIN COMBINATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS, TWO OF WHICH ACT UPON THE INDIVIDUAL IN ISOLATION, WHILE THE THIRD DETERMINES HIS CONDUCT AS A MEMBER OF A SOCIOLOGICAL GROUP. INNER FORCES SHAPING THE INDIVIDUAL'S CONDUCT CAN BE CONSTANT (SUCH AS INHERITED PERSONALITY TRAITS, INTELLIGENCE LEVEL, AND RELATIVE STRENGTH OF EMOTIONAL DRIVES) OR DYNAMIC (SUCH AS EMOTIONAL CONFLICTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INDIVIDUAL'S PHYSICAL MATURING FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE, SELF-CONCEPT, MORAL DEVELOPMENT, OR AGGRESSION CAUSED BY FRUSTRATION OVER OBSTACLES PREVENTING THE SATISFACTION OF DESIRES). INTERPERSONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING INDIVIDUAL CONDUCT ARE FAMILY, SCHOOL, AND SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT, INCLUDING SUBCULTURES. SCHOOLS APPEAR TO EXERT THE STRONGEST INFLUENCE UPON THE FORMATION OF THE HUMAN PERSONALITY AND ARE, THEREFORE, THE MOST DESIRABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGIES, SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE RESTORATION OF DISCIPLINE, TEACHER AUTHORITY, AND A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING ON THE STUDENTS' PART OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISRUPTIVE AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. BEHAVIOR MODIFYING DRUGS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A LAST RESORT IN THE TREATMENT OF INCURABLY DANGEROUS PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITIES AND AS A LESSER EVIL THAN PERMANENT INSTITUTIONALIZATION. OFFENDER TREATMENT SHOULD TAKE PLACE, WHENEVER POSSIBLE, IN A FAMILY ENVIRONMENT. A NOTE OF CAUTION SHOULD BE TAKEN IN CONSIDERING PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES AS THE ONLY EXPLANATIONS FOR THE CAUSES OF CRIME, AND A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IS RECOMMENDED INSTEAD OF COUNTERPRODUCTIVE SCIENTIFIC COMPARTMENTALIZATION. --IN ITALIAN. (LGR)