AN HISTORICAL EXPLORATION OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES WHICH INFLUENCED MODERN CRIMINOLOGY COVERS POSITIVISM, SOCIAL CONSTRUCT THEORY, AND PHENOMENOLOGY. IN THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANCE DEFINITIONS ARE GIVEN FOR THE IDEAS OF CULTURE; SOCIALIZATION, ROLE PERCEPTION, DEVIANCE, AND THE THREE TYPES OF SOCIAL REACTION TO DEVIANCE--TOLERANCE, APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL, THE LATTER BEING THE PRIME MOVER OF SOCIAL CONTROL. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CRIMINAL CONDUCT IS A CREATION OF THE POWER ESTABLISHMENTS AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND PLACES FOR THE PURPOSE OF LEGALLY CODIFYING THEIR INTERESTS AND BELIEFS IS DEFENDED WITH EXAMPLES. DISCUSSIONS ADDRESS SOCIAL NORMS IN PRIMITIVE AND RURAL SOCIETIES; CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS IN INDUSTRIALIZED SOCIETIES; CRIMINALITY IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL STRUCTURES, IN DIFFERENT HISTORICAL TIMES, AND IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON VENEZUELA AND THE UNITED STATES); AND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CONDUCTS CRIMINALIZED IN COMMUNIST AND CAPITALIST COUNTRIES. COMMENTARIES TOUCH ON THE COSTS OF CRIME TO PUBLIC FINANCES, VICTIMS, AND SOCIETY; AND ON THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF CRIMINALITY AND DEVIANCE (E.G., AS ESCAPE VALVES IN CHANNELING CONDUCT THAT MIGHT ENDANGER EXISTING INSTITUTIONS). THE PHENOMENON OF CRIME IS DEFINED IN TERMS OF PROHIBITION NORMS, THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE, THE THEORY OF MULTIPLE PARTICIPATION IN CRIMINAL ACTS, (E.G., SPECTATORS, COMMUNITY) AS WELL AS THE THEORY OF THE CRITIQUE OF CRIMINAL LAW. THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL REACTION IS CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF THE INTERACTION THEORY, THE MECHANISMS OF THE IMPOSITION OF RULES, THE CRIMINALIZATION PROCESS, AND THE LABELING THEORY. THE LABELING THEORY IS DETAILED WITH A GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DEVIANCE. WITHIN THE CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT OF SOCIAL REACTION, CRIMINALIZATION PROCESSES ARE HYPOTHESIZED AS INTERACTIONS AMONG VARIOUS PARTIES. CRIMINAL STEREOTYPES AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF STIGMATIZATION ARE EXAMINED, ALONG WITH THE TRADITIONAL CRIMINOLOGICAL SCHOOL (VIEWING CRIMINALS AS ABERRANT TYPES TO BE STUDIED AS SUCH IN ISOLATION) AND THE NEW CRIMINOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, WHICH REGARDS SOCIETAL CONDITIONS AS CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS TO BE ALTERED IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE CRIMINALITY. THE RADICAL CRIMINOLOGY MOVEMENTS ARE STUDIED AS THE MOST RATIONAL VIEWS OF THE PHENOMENA OF DEVIANCE IN THE PROPER SOCIAL CONTEXT. A MARXIST THEORETICAL MODEL IS PROPOSED, WORKED OUT ACCORDING TO THE RADICAL TENETS OF THE SOCALLED NEW CRIMINOLOGY. FINALLY, ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO ANTIPSYCHIATRY, TRADITIONAL PSYCHIATRY, MENTAL ILLNESS AS DEVIANCE, AND MENTAL HOSPITALS AND PRISONS AS FORMS OF INSTITUTIONALIZED VIOLENCE. AN INTERNATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY IS APPENDED. --IN SPANISH.