ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author dive into debates about crime control policy. What can we do about it? Should we lock up offenders and keep them out of the general public? Can we do things to reduce crime before it starts? What about hardened criminals? Are they a lost cause? In some ways these questions are among the most important that criminologists can answer. After all, finding out why people commit crimes or why some offend over long periods while others do not is not useful information if it cannot inform efforts to improve public safety. The chapter provides a broad overview of historical and contemporary issues that have been tackled in criminology and criminal justice. Many consider Cesar Bonesana di Beccaria to be one of, if not the, founding father of criminology. With sociological positivism came the notion that what sets criminals apart from non-criminals was the environment in which they found themselves.
