How Criminology Has Changed

Since the dawn of the eighteenth century philosophers, and wandering minds alike begin to question crime, and what motivates a person to commit a crime. The shift from proposing, and wandering turned into the study and documentation of these findings. Interested with the rise of crimes, researchers begin to develop strategic ways to study, and understand the reason of criminal behavior. From the data that was collected they were able to provide critical insight on the nature of crime. This academic discipline deemed criminology is “devoted to the development of valid and reliable information that addresses the causes of crime as well as crime patterns and trends” (Siegler, 2006, pp 4). The definition of criminology has not changed, however what society views what crime is has considerably changed. Criminology is supposed to prove and “provide” the most accurate long term predictions of why crimes are committed. However, since the nature of crime is changing the results from these studies may not fully explain the nature of why crime is committed. Our society culture is changing which has an effect on the nature of

Because the nature of crime is changing as the culture of society changes, answers that researchers seek will never remain constant.Radical changes such as culture change, age, economy, race amongst others are all a part of the nature of a crime. The values and beliefs are also changing, and is a variable that has an influence what people consider right or wrong, the choices that they will make, and ultimately a factor in criminal behavior. What was considered the norm, or acceptable at one time, in contrast to another time may be considered a violation of law. Criminologist Gwynn Netter uses a great story to illustrate this point