Homo sapiens and Criminality

Abstract

History has shown that primitive societies, with their well-developed value and norm systems, were self-governing. Needs of the people led to the development of mechanisms for survival. As primitive societies became more complex, a need arose for knowledge of the nature and structure of the communities in which they lived. Moral laws and rules, which governed primitive communities, were organized around the family and tribal environment. Even in the 21st century, forms of human behavior management center on tribal authority systems in different parts of the world. Crime is a social construction that has been widely theorized by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and, of course, criminologists. Researchers have long tried to answer the questions as to why crime exists, how it is defined, how it can be controlled, and what makes it more prevalent in certain communities than in others. This special issue addresses many of these questions and reflects on contemporary research in the criminological field. The authors are at the forefront of the research on crime and shed new light on our societies’ ability to identify, reduce, or cope with criminality.