EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR THIS STUDY WAS OBTAINED FROM A WIDE VARIETY OF SOURCES, INCLUDING INTERPOL POLICE STATISTICS, UNITED NATIONS JUVENILE COURT DATA, AND BRITISH AND CANADIAN OFFICIAL CRIME STATISTICS. THE CONFLICT AND CONSENSUS THEORIES OF LAW AND ORDER ARE EXAMINED, WITH WORK IN THESE TWO TRADITIONS TRACED FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ON. HOW THE THEORIES FARED IN EMPIRICAL TESTS, THEIR POPULARITY, AND THEIR POLITICAL USEFULNESS ARE ALL DESCRIBED. EMPIRICAL TESTS DONE FOR THE BOOK INCLUDE COMPARISONS OF CRIME RATES ACROSS DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, TIME SERIES, AND SURVEY ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDES TO CRIME AND CRIME CONTROL. THE BOOK OFFERS A NEW APPROACH TO GENERAL THEORY, STRESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW, ENFORCEMENT, AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. THE METHODOLOGICAL DEBATE IN CRIMINOLOGY IS TAKEN UP, WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO THE RADICAL ATTACK ON EMPIRICAL SOCIAL SCIENCE. CONSIDERABLE COMMON GROUND IS SHOWN BETWEEN MARXIST ASSUMPTIONS AND THOSE OF ORDINARY POSITIVISM UNDER ATTACK. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)