ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the existing historical, penal, and criminological literature and describes the emergence of deterrence theories as a consequence of developments in the natural sciences and social philosophies of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ideas of Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham were built on the seminal works of other scientists who paved the way for their ideas and methods. The chapter also examines the political, economic, and social situation in Europe and offers a description of the crime situation in Europe and how harsh criminal justice practices were organized based on deterrence and torture. Beccaria and Bentham were the first intellectuals who systematically studied crime and criminal justice, not as an empirical discipline as it is today, but as reflective and philosophical analyses based on their own observation of daily life in Italy and England in the 18th century. That knowledge as well as that of their personal life is essential to any understanding of why both were trying to humanize the criminal justice system.
