Criminology is the study of crime and criminal offenders in many
different settings and from many different points of view. All countries make
rules, or laws, which forbid certain types of behavior. A crime is an act that
is forbidden by law because it is harmful to a person, to property, or to
society in general. Attitudes towards crime do not always stay the same. Laws
may be changed as society develops. The definition of crime also varies from
country to country. Sometimes an act that is considered criminal is only
considered to be so because it defies or goes against social mores. In making
decisions about what types of acts or behavior are categorized as criminal, a
society's government has to evaluate the harshness or extremity of the act.
Criminal activity of all kinds has existed since people began to live
together in societies. "People in the earliest societies were as much
concerned as we are today with such harmful acts as stealing and
killing"(Kirkham 20). They realized, as we do, that respect for life and
property is essential to the survival of any society. In latter days, there
were no written laws. The consequences for behaving in a criminal manner were
somehow known. Many times when criminal acts were committed, they were done so
in desperation. As time has progressed, we have seen where people have thought
less of punishment and done things out of radical behavior. Therefore, when
the lack of respect for word of mouth came about, societies developed
governments to protect their interests. In these governments, leaders wrote
down what acts were considered criminal and in turn gave the appropriate
consequences for them all. Today, most countries have a certain code of laws
that all citizens have to obey. All of the laws are created from research into
the severity of crimes, the factors that cause them to happen and the people
So...