Editing Crime (section)

== History ==

=== Early history ===
Restrictions on behavior existed in all prehistoric societies.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=18}} Crime in early human society was seen as a personal transgression and was addressed by the community as a whole rather than through a formal legal system,{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=9}} often through the use of custom, religion, or the rule of a tribal leader.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=46}} Some of the oldest extant writings are ancient [[Criminal code|criminal codes]].{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=9}} The earliest known criminal code was the [[Code of Ur-Nammu]] ({{c.|lk=no|2100|2050 BC}}),<ref name=schoyen>{{cite web |url=https://www.schoyencollection.com/law/sumerian/ur-nammu-ms-2064 |archive-url= |archive-date= |title=The Ur-Nammu Law Code |work=[[Schøyen Collection]] |access-date=July 1, 2024}}</ref> and the first known criminal code that incorporated retaliatory justice was the [[Code of Hammurabi]].{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=26}} The latter influenced the conception of crime across several civilizations over the following millennia.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=47}}

The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] systematized law and applied their system across the [[Roman Empire]]. The initial rules of [[Roman law]] regarded assaults as a matter of private compensation. The most significant Roman law concept involved ''dominion''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daube, David. |title=Roman law: linguistic, social and philosophical aspects. |date=1969 |publisher=Edinburgh U.P |isbn=0852240511 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=22054}}</ref> Most acts recognized as crimes in ancient societies, such as violence and theft, have persisted to the modern era.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=42}} The criminal justice system of Imperial China existed unbroken for over 2,000 years.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=36}}

Many of the earliest conceptions of crime are associated with [[sin]] and corresponded to acts that were believed to invoke the anger of a deity.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=18}} This idea was further popularized with the development of the [[Abrahamic religion|Abrahamic religions]]. The understanding of crime and sin were closely associated with one another for much of history, and conceptions of crime took on many of the ideas associated with sin.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=8}} [[Islamic law]] developed its own system of criminal justice as [[Islam]] spread in the seventh and eighth centuries.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=64}}

=== Post-classical era ===
In [[post-classical]] Europe and East Asia, central government was limited and crime was defined locally. Towns established their own criminal justice systems, while crime in the countryside was defined by the social hierarchies of [[feudalism]].{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=84, 91–94}} In some places, such as the [[Russian Empire]] and the [[Kingdom of Italy]], feudal justice survived into the 19th century.{{sfn|Roth|2014|pp=97–105}}

[[Common law]] first developed in England under the rule of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in the 12th century. He established a system of traveling judges that tried accused criminals in each region of England by applying precedent from previous rulings.{{sfn|Roth|2014|pp=63–64}} Legal developments in 12th century England also resulted in the earliest known recording of official crime data.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=9}}

=== Modern era ===
In the modern era, crime came to be seen as an issue affecting society rather than conflicts between individuals. Writers such as [[Thomas Hobbes]] saw crime as a societal issue as early as the 17th century.{{Sfn|Sumner|2004|p=5}} [[Imprisonment]] developed as a long-term penalty for crime in the 18th century.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=8}} Increasing [[urbanization]] and [[industrialization]] in the 19th century caused crime to become an immediate issue that affected society, prompting government intervention in crime and the establishment of criminology as its own field.{{Sfn|Sumner|2004|p=5}}

[[Anthropological criminology]] was popularized by [[Cesare Lombroso]] in the late-19th century. This was a [[biological determinist]] school of thought based in [[social darwinism]], arguing that certain people are naturally born as criminals.{{sfn|Davie|2010|pp=23–24}} The [[eugenics]] movement of the early-20th century similarly held that crime was caused primarily by genetic factors.{{sfn|Davie|2010|p=38}}

The concept of crime underwent a period of change as [[modernism]] was widely accepted in the years following [[World War II]]. Crime increasingly came to be seen as a societal issue, and criminal law was seen as a means to protect the public from [[Anti-social behaviour|antisocial]] behavior. This idea was associated with a larger trend in the western world toward [[social democracy]] and [[centre-left politics]].{{Sfn|Sumner|2004|pp=4–5}}

Through most of history, reporting of crime was generally local. The advent of [[mass media]] through radio and television in the mid-20th century allowed for the sensationalism of crime. This created well-known stories of criminals such as [[Jeffrey Dahmer]], and it allowed for dramatization that perpetuates misconceptions about crime.{{Sfn|Fattah|1997|p=14}} Forensic science was popularized in the 1980s, establishing [[DNA profiling]] as a new method to prevent and analyze crime.{{sfn|Davie|2010|p=43}}