A persistent problem with both explanations of delinquency, however, is the lack of clarity as to how social or societal conditions exert an influence over one s behaviour. In this sense, both theories are incomplete. While they provide a solid base from which to launch other theoretical explanations of delinquency, they should not be interpreted as providing the ultimate sociological understanding of delinquency. The individualistic theories of the biological and psychological positivists do not have a conception of crime derived from a general theory of behaviour. They are, therefore, forced to accept the criminals provided them by the state.
Crimes are then merely acts in violation of the law.
The positivist s quest then seems simple enough - locate the differences among people that produce variance in their tendencies to commit acts in violation of the law. But this leads to the inherent contradiction of positivism - it is much better at providing typologies and associative variables than with coherent causal explanations.