ABSTRACT
The majority of criminological studies focus on the individual offender and analyze such behavior based on certain conditions, social, historical, psychological and economic. Before the Enlightenment period in Western history, most offenses were treated as capital offenses and believed to have been caused by forces of evil. Offenders were routinely tortured to death while the executioners and crowds of observers anticipated the amende honorable. Calas' execution serves as a graphic example. With the development of humanist thought during the Enlightenment, the ideal of the social contract was an attempt to move beyond the practice of "the war of all against all." Turn to the end of the chapter, use class discussion number one to guide students through an analysis of the transformation of punishment based on Enlightenment ideals. Situate classical criminology more firmly within the foundations of the Enlightenment by discussing broadly the Pre-Enlightenment and the Post-Enlightenment paradigms as well.
