Science Crime And Deviant And Criminal Behavior - 1364 Words

81248702 1. Over the decades from theology to science crime has continued to be studied. It has been studied because of the many factors found in deviant and criminal behavior. Lets first start with understanding what deviance is. Deviance is defined as â€Å"behavior that violates accepted norms and arouses negative social reaction†(pg. 386). Just like the Western societies from long ago, in some of our societies today there are still religious explanations for behavior that violate norms. Back in ancient times people believed that deviant behavior was because of four reasons: â€Å"(1) God was testing their faith, (2) God was punishing them, (3) God was using their behavior to warn others to follow divine rules, and (4) they were possessed by†¦show more content†¦Eventually in this period religion influences having to do with deviance were weaken. In the Age of Reason some philosophers believed human nature was good, some believed it was bad and others believed it was neith er good nor bad because people started with a â€Å"blank slate† and were eventually shaped by their social environments and experiences. With that assumption it was then believed that God left people to govern their own affairs through free will and in that people did not really think that they would be rewarded for doing good or punished for doing bad. The types of punishments that arose during this period of time were arrest that led to torture and/or death. The philosophers from the Enlightment period shared many fundamental assumptions, which eventually led to the classical school of criminology. The classical school of criminology is a school of thought that was popular in Europe during the eighteenth century. The main assumptions made by the philosophers of the school were that â€Å"criminals and noncriminals alike act rationally and with free will, calculating whether their behavior will cause them more pleasure or more pain†(pg. 92). In the past decades there had been very cruel types of punishments for individuals who violated religious norms and committed crimes, Philosopher Cesare Beccaria argued that punishments should not be so cruel. He