National College Mihail Kogalniceanu Class : XII A

Crime, Criminology And Forensics

Teacher: Oanca Leonte Anca Student:Bratu Andreea-Elena

Crime, Criminology and Forensics

Contents

1.Definition of crime3 2.History of crime.5

Definition of crime
Crime is the breaking of rules or laws for which some governing authority (via mechanisms such as legal systems) can ultimately prescribe a conviction. Crimes may also result in cautions, rehabilitation or be unenforced. Individual human societies may each define crime and crimes differently, in different localities (state, local, international), at different time stages of the so-called "crime", from planning, disclosure, supposedly intended, supposedly prepared, incomplete, complete or future proclaimed after the "crime". While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime; for example: breaches of contract and of other civil law may rank as "offences" or as "infractions". Modern societies generally regard crimes as offences against the public or the state, as distinguished from torts (wrongs against private parties that can give rise to a civil cause of action).

Crime in the social and legal framework is the set of facts or assumptions (causes, consequences and objectives) that are part of a case in which they were committed acts punishable under criminal law, and the application of which depends on the agent of a sentence or security measure criminal. Usually includes a felony violation of a criminal rule or act against law, in particular at the expense of people or moral. A crime may be illegal (as is the cause of evil or injury) or perfectly legal (when the act done is not a necessary consequence of the conduct of the agent but determined by others). Illegal and punishable crime is the violation of any rule of administrative, fiscal or criminal liability on the part of agents of the state or practice of any wrongdoing and notoriously harmful to self or against third parties, provided for in criminal law, since they practiced with guilt (the first act that causes injury criminal actions or omissions to produce adequate evidence also illegal). Legal and not punishable crime are all acts in self-defense or otherwise determined by the illegal or criminal conduct of others that happened in the first place (or omission adequate to protect the staff member who is a victim of illegal crime) Other definitions Legislatures can pass laws (called mala prohibita) that define crimes against social norms. These laws vary from time to time and from place to place: note variations in gambling laws, for example, and the prohibition or encouragement of duelling in history. Other crimes, called mala in se, count as outlawed in almost all societies, (murder, theft and rape, for example).

English criminal law and the related criminal law of Commonwealth countries can define offences that the courts alone have developed over the years, without any actual legislation: common law offences. The courts used the concept of malum in se to develop various common law offences

History
Some religious communities regard sin as a crime; some may even highlight the crime of sin very early in legendary or mythological accounts of origins note the tale of Adam and Eve and the theory of original sin. What one group considers a crime may cause or ignite war or conflict. However, the earliest known civilizations had codes of law, containing both civil and penal rules mixed together, though not always in recorded form.

The Sumerians produced the earliest surviving written codes. Urukagina (reigned c .2380 BC2360 BC, short chronology) had an early code that has not survived; a later king, Ur-Nammu, left the earliest extant written law-system, the Code of Ur-Nammu (c .2100-2050 BC), which prescribed a formal system of penalties for specific cases in 57 articles. The Sumerians later issued other codes, including the "code of Lipit-Ishtar". This code, from the 20th century BCE, contains some fifty articles, and scholars have reconstructed it by comparing several sources. The Sumerian was deeply conscious of his personal rights and resented any encroachment on them, whether by his King, his superior, or his equal. No wonder that the Sumerians were the first to compile laws and law codes. Kramer

Successive legal codes in Babylon, including the code of Hammurabi (c. 1790 BC), reflected Mesopotamian society's belief that law derived from the will of the gods (see Babylonian law).[Many states at this time functioned as theocracies, with codes of conduct largely religious in origin or reference.

Sir Henry Maine (1861) studied the ancient codes available in his day, and failed to find any criminal law in the "modern" sense of the word. While modern systems distinguish between offences against the "State" or "Community", and offences against the "Individual", the so-called penal law of ancient communities did not deal with "crimes" (Latin: crimina), but with "wrongs" (Latin: delicta). Thus the Hellenic laws treated all forms of theft, assault, rape, and murder as private wrongs, and left action for enforcement up to the victims or their survivors. The earliest systems seem to have lacked formal courts.

The Romans systematized law and applied their system across the Roman Empire. Again, the initial rules of Roman Law regarded assaults as a matter of private compensation. The most significant Roman Law concept involved dominion. The pater familias owned all the family and its property (including slaves); the pater enforced matters involving interference with any property. The Commentaries of Gaius (written between 130 and 180 AD) on the Twelve Tables treated furtum (in modern parlance: "theft") as a tort.

Similarly, assault and violent robbery involved trespass as to the pater's property (so, for example, the rape of a slave could become the subject of compensation to the pater as having trespassed on his "property"), and breach of such laws created a vinculum juris (an obligation of law) that only the payment of monetary compensation (modern "damages") could discharge. Similarly, the consolidated Teutonic laws of the Germanic tribes, included a complex system of monetary compensations for what courts would now consider the complete[citation needed] range of criminal offences against the person, from murder down.

Even though Rome abandoned its Britannic provinces around 400 AD, the Germanic mercenaries who had largely become instrumental in enforcing Roman rule in Britannia acquired ownership of land there and continued to use a mixture of Roman and Teutonic Law, with much written down under the early Anglo-Saxon Kings. But only when a more centralized English monarchy emerged following the Norman invasion, and when the kings of England attempted to assert power over the land and its peoples, did the modern concept emerge, namely of a crime not only as an offence against the "individual", but also as a wrong against the "State".

This idea came from common law, and the earliest conception of a criminal act involved events of such major significance that the "State" had to usurp the usual functions of the civil tribunals, and direct a special law or privilegium against the perpetrator. All the earliest English criminal trials involved wholly extraordinary and arbitrary courts without any settled law to apply, whereas the civil (delictual) law operated in a highly developed and consistent manner (except where a King wanted to raise money by selling a new form of writ). The development of the idea that the "State" dispenses justice in a court only emerges in parallel with or after the emergence of the concept of sovereignty.

In continental Europe, Roman law persisted, but with a stronger influence from the Christian Church. Coupled with the more diffuse political structure based on smaller feudal units, various legal traditions emerged, remaining more strongly rooted in Roman jurisprudence, but modified to meet the prevailing political climate.

In Scandinavia the effect of Roman law did not become apparent until the 17th century, and the courts grew out of the things the assemblies of the people. The people decided the cases (usually with largest freeholders dominating). This system later gradually developed into a system with a royal judge nominating a number of the most esteemed men of the parish as his board, fulfilling the function of "the people" of yore.

From the Hellenic system onwards, the policy rationale for requiring the payment of monetary compensation for wrongs committed has involved the avoidance of feuding between clans and families. If compensation could mollify families' feelings, this would help to keep the peace. On the

other hand, the institution of oaths also played down the threat of feudal warfare. Both in archaic Greece and in medieval Scandinavia, an accused person walked free if he could get a sufficient number of male relatives to swear him unguilty. (Compare the United Nations Security Council, in which the veto power of the permanent members ensures that the organization does not become involved in crises where it could not enforce its decisions.)

These means of restraining private feuds did not always work, and sometimes prevented the fulfillment of justice. But in the earliest times the "state" did not always provide an independent policing force. Thus criminal law grew out what 21st-century lawyers would call torts; and, in real terms, many acts and omissions classified as crimes actually overlap with civil-law concepts.

The development of sociological thought from the 19th century onwards prompted some fresh views on crime and criminality, and fostered the beginnings of criminology as a study of crime in society. Nietzsche noted a link between crime and creativity in The Birth of Tragedy he asserted: "The best and brightest that man can acquire he must obtain by crime". In the 20th century Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish made a study of criminalization as a coercive method of state control.

Classification and categorization

Categorisation by type

The following classes of offences are used, or have been used, as legal terms of art: Offence against the person Violent offence Sexual offence Offence against property

Researchers and commentators have classified crimes into the following categories, in addition to those above: Forgery, personation and cheating Firearms and offensive weapons Offences against the State/Offences against the Crown and Government/Political offences Harmful or dangerous drugs Offences against religion and public worship Offences against public justice/Offences against the administration of public justice[30] Public order offence Commerce, financial markets and insolvency Offences against public morals and public policy Motor vehicle offences Conspiracy, incitement and attempt to commit crime Inchoate offence Juvenile Delinquency

Categorisation by penalty One can categorise crimes depending on the related punishment, with sentencing tariffs prescribed in line with the perceived seriousness of the offence. Thus fines and noncustodial sentences may

address the crimes seen as least serious, with lengthy imprisonment or (in some jurisdictions) capital punishment reserved for the most serious. Common law Under the common law of England, crimes were classified as either treason, felony or misdemeanour, with treason sometimes being included with the felonies. This system was based on the perceived seriousness of the offence. It is still used in the United States but the distinction between felony and misdemeanour is abolished in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

Classification by mode of trial The following classes of offence are based on mode of trial: Indictable-only offence Indictable offence Hybrid offence, aka either-way offence in England and Wales Summary offence, aka infraction in the US

Classification by origin In common law countries, crimes may be categorised into common law offences and statutory offences. In the US, Australia and Canada (in particular), they are divided into federal crimes and under state crimes. For convenience, such lists usually include infractions although, in the U.S., they may come into the sphere not of the criminal law, but rather of the civil law. Compare tortfeasance.

Criminals Bonnie&Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde met in Texas in January, 1930. At the time, Bonnie was 19 and married to an imprisoned murderer; Clyde was 21 and unmarried. Soon after, he was arrested for a burglary and sent to jail. He escaped, using a gun Bonnie had smuggled to him, was recaptured and was sent back to prison. Clyde was paroled in February 1932, rejoined Bonnie, and resumed a life of crime.

In addition to the automobile theft charge, Bonnie and Clyde were suspects in other crimes. At the time they were killed in 1934, they were believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries. Barrow, for example, was suspected of murdering two police officers at Joplin, Missouri and kidnapping a man and a woman in rural Louisiana. He released them near Waldo, Texas. Numerous sightings followed, linking this pair with bank robberies and automobile thefts. Clyde allegedly murdered a man at Hillsboro, Texas; committed robberies at Lufkin and Dallas, Texas; murdered one sheriff and wounded another at Stringtown, Oklahoma; kidnaped a deputy at Carlsbad, New Mexico; stole an automobile at Victoria, Texas; attempted to murder a deputy at Wharton, Texas; committed murder and robbery at Abilene and Sherman, Texas; committed murder at Dallas, Texas; abducted a sheriff and the chief of police at Wellington, Texas; and committed murder at Joplin and Columbia, Missouri. The Crime Spree Begins Later in 1932, Bonnie and Clyde began traveling with Raymond Hamilton, a young gunman. Hamilton left them several months later and was replaced by William Daniel Jones in November 1932. Ivan M. "Buck" Barrow, brother of Clyde, was released from the Texas State Prison on March 23, 1933, having been granted a full pardon by the governor. He quickly joined Clyde, bringing his wife, Blanche, so the group now numbered five persons. This gang embarked upon a series of bold robberies which made headlines across the country. They escaped capture in various encounters with the law. However, their activities made law enforcement efforts to apprehend them even more intense. During a shootout with police in Iowa on July 29, 1933, Buck Barrow was fatally wounded and Blanche was captured. Jones, who was frequently mistaken for "Pretty Boy" Floyd, was captured in November 1933 in Houston, Texas by the sheriff's office. Bonnie and Clyde went on together. Clyde Champion Barrow and his companion, Bonnie Parker, were shot to death by officers in an ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana on May 23, 1934, after one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts the nation had seen up to that time.Barrow was suspected of numerous killings and was wanted for murder, robbery, and state charges of kidnapping.

Ed Gein(Killings between 1947 and 1957)

Known as historys most inspirational killer, his character became a central element in many films, including Alfred Hitchcocks thriller Psycho and the character of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, among others. Modus Operandi Gein was a serial killer who skinned his victims, exhumed corpses, and decorated his home with parts of his victims bodies. Human skin was used to make dust bins, furniture, and even clothes. Background Gein was born in 1906 as the younger of two boys. He had a weak alcoholic father and a domineering mother who was deeply religious. He was said to be very attached to her. She taught them about immorality and the evils of women and sex and discouraged their sexual desires. He turned into an effeminate and shy boy. His father died as a result of his alcoholism and later his brother Henry, who used to criticize his mother about Geins unhealthy attachment to her, died in a mysterious fire. The younger boy was later suspected. Fantasies With nobody to control him after his mother passed away, Gein became obsessed with sexual fantasies and female anatomy. Fascinated by the human experiments performed in Nazi camps, he started robbing graves to perform experiments of his own, including exhuming his own mothers body. The experiments became gruesome and cannibalistic. He had the desire to turn himself into a woman and would create breasts out of human skin and drape them over himself. He believed that for a sex change, he would need fresh bodies and thus started his killing spree, which was said to be because of his love-hate relationship with his mother. House of Horrors When police finally caught up with him, they found a variety of gruesome sights hanging corpses with their throats and heads missing, bowls made of skulls, pieces of jewelry made of human skin, hanging lips, skin upholstery for chairs, and masks made of facial skin and vulva (including his mothers) that were painted silver. The most shocking discovery was perhaps his mothers heart, which was found in a pan on the stove. Killings and Sentence Police counted 15 women as his victims. Gein told the police that he never had sex with any of the dead women as they smelled too bad. His fascination with women was because of the power they held over men. Gein was admitted to Waupan State Hospital and died of cancer at the age of 78.

Jeffrey Dahmer Monster (Killings between 1978 and 1991)

This Milwaukee serial killer murdered boys of Asian and African descent. His murders were gruesome and involved torture, forced sodomy, dismemberment (removing their limbs), necrophilia, and cannibalism. He was arrested first when caught fondling a 13-year-old boy in Milwaukee and was sentenced to one year in a work release camp. After serving ten months, he was released on probation for his good behavior. Thats when his killing spree began. He committed his first murder at the age of 18, shortly after being released, and his first victim was a 19-year-old hitchhiker. There was a much-talked about story about a 14-year-old boy who almost escaped Dahmer in 1991. He wandered into the streets without clothes, with Dahmer in pursuit. Police believed Dahmers story that the boy was 19 years old and was his partner, and took the boy to Dahmers house. In spite of noticing a weird smell there, they left without investigating. Soon after, the boy was killed and Dahmer kept his skull as a souvenir. Background Dahmer was the son of an analytical chemist, and as a child he had a fascination with dissecting dead animals. By the time he was a teenager, he was an alcoholic and a loner. He dropped out of college and his father forced him to enlist in the Army. After just two years, he was discharged because of his heavy drinking. Since he did not want to face his father, he moved in with his grandmother and lived with her for six years. His grandmother asked him to move out when he was arrested for exposing himself in public. Killings and Sentence Dahmer was caught by the police when a would-be victim escaped and alerted them. He was held responsible for 15 murders, sentenced to 15 life terms. Dahmer then expressed remorse and wished death upon himself. He was beaten to death by a fellow inmate and died of severe head trauma.

Definition of criminology
Criminology (from Latin crmen, "accusation"; and Greek -, -logia) is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in the behavioral sciences, drawing especially upon the research of sociologists (particularly in the sociology of deviance), psychologists and psychiatrists, social anthropologists as well as on writings in law.

Areas of research in criminology include the incidence, forms, causes and consequences of crime, as well as social and governmental regulations and reaction to crime. For studying the distribution and causes of crime, criminology mainly relies upon quantitative methods. The term criminology was coined in 1885 by Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo as criminologia. Later, French anthropologist Paul Topinard used the analogous French term criminology.

Introduction to Crime Scene Investigation

The purpose of crime scene investigation is to help establish what happened (crime scene reconstruction) and to identify the responsible person,carefully documenting the conditions at a crime scene and recognizing all relevant physical evidence. The ability to recognize and properly collect physical evidence is oftentimes critical to both solving and prosecuting violent crimes. It is important to determine the full extent of a crime scene. A crime scene is not merely the immediate area where a body is located or where an assailant concentrated his activities but can also encompass a vehicle and access/escape routes. In the majority of cases, the law enforcement officer who protects and searches a crime scene plays a critical role in determining whether physical evidence will be used in solving or prosecuting violent crimes.

Crime Scene Vocabulary CRIME SCENE: Any physical location in which a crime has occurred or is suspected of having occurred. PRIMARY CRIME SCENE: The original location of a crime or accident. SECONDARY CRIME SCENE: An alternate location where additional evidence may be found. SUSPECT: Person thought to be capable of committing a crime. ACCOMPLICE: Person associated with someone suspected of committing a crime. ALIBI: Statement of where a suspect was at the time of a crime.

Crime Scene Team A group of professionals trained in a variety of special disciplines Team members First police officer on the scene Medics (if necessary) Investigator(s) Medical examiner (if necessary) Photographer and/or field evidence technician Lab experts

POLICE OFFICERS are typically the first to arrive at a crime scene. They are responsible for securing the scene so no evidence is destroyed and detaining persons of interest in the crime. The CSI UNIT documents the crime scene in detail and collects any physical evidence. The DISTRICT ATTORNEY is often present to help determine if any search warrants are required to proceed and obtains those warrants from a judge. The MEDICAL EXAMINER (if a homicide) may or may not be present to determine a preliminary cause of death. SPECIALISTS (entomologists, forensic scientists, forensic psychologists) may be called in if the evidence requires expert analysis. DETECTIVES interview witnesses and consult with the CSI unit. They investigate the crime by following leads provided by witnesses and physical evidence.

Crime Scene Investigation

Processing the Crime Scene There are 7 steps to processing a crime scene 1. Secure and Isolate the Crime Scene 2. Record the Scene Photograph, Sketch, Take Notes 3. Conduct a Systematic Search For Evidence 4. Collect and Package Evidence 5. Maintain Chain of Custody 6. Obtain Controls 7. Submit Evidence to the Laboratory

Evidence Collection Proper protocols and techniques for collecting evidence are very specific and critical. Generally, first responders preserve scenes and trained specialist collect and analysis evidence

Forensic Science and Criminalistics

Forensic comes from the Latin word "forensis," meaning "of the forum," where the law courts of ancient Rome were held Forensic science is the application of any type of science, biological, social, physical or mathematical to legal matters.

Forensic Science is the broader term, meaning the part of the science used to answer a legal question. Toxicology, ondontology, accounting, pathology, serology Criminalistics is a branch of Forensic Science dealing with the study of physical evidence related to a crime.

Trace Evidence
Hair Fiber Glass Paint Dust Dirt Chemicals Firearms Fluids Blood Bite Marks Shoe Prints Tool Marks Wounds Documents Fingerprints

Lifting Prints
Plastic Found in a soft surface like wax, paint or putty. Visible Contact with a wet fluid like blood. Latent Meaning Hidden These prints are left by the oils secreted by our hands and are generally not visible.

Dusting for Prints

Powders have different properties, for instance color. Common colors are black, white, gray, aluminum, red, and gold. Color is selected to make the best contrast between the print and the surface. For instance , a white powder might works best on a dark surface.

AFIS A combination of hardware and software used to scan and classify fingerprints so that they can be stored in a database. There are several regional, state and local AFIS databases:Western Identification Network;Arizona DPS;Ontario, CA police Department Maintains the largest Biometric database in the world, containing the fingerprints and corresponding criminal history information for more than 47 million subjects. The fingerprints and corresponding criminal history information are submitted voluntarily by state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies.

Biometrics
The science of automatically identifying individuals based on a physiological or psychological characteristic:Fingerprint;Retinal Scan;Voice Print;Facial Scan;Thermal Image;Handwriting, gait, and others.

Fingerprint Advances
The recovery of latent (hidden) fingerprints is not longer restricted to powder:Superglue fuming;Laser applications;Unique powders.

Technology has advanced to the point wherein some jurisdictions use superglue fuming wands at the crime scene

Fuming
There are several types of fuming, the most recent issuper glue fuming. Super glue contains the chemical Cyanoacrylate.When heated this substance sticks to trace oils, hardens and when dry it is visible.

Ballistics Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance. Forensic ballistics involves analysis of bullets and bullet impacts to determine information of use to a court or other part of a legal system. Separately from ballistics information, firearm and tool mark examinations ("ballistic fingerprinting") involve analysing firearm, ammunition, and tool mark evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the commission of a crime.

National Integrated Ballistic Identification System

In 1993, prior to NIBINs, the FBI (DRUGFIRE)and ATF (BULLETPROOF/CEASEFIRE) established separate computerized ballistics imaging systems. NIBIN was established in 1997 to unify these systems. There are currently over 220 crime labs participating.

DNA Basics Transfer theory demonstrates that wherever we are we leave behind evidence we where there! Perhaps our fingerprints; or, Our bodies are constantly shedding cells, releasing vapor containing cells and shedding hair we leave it everywhere Our bodies contain 100 trillion cells. Most cells contain a center piece called a nucleus. The nuclei of our cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes which are the biological instructions of who we are During conception our parents contribute one half of each pair. Inside each chromosome there are as many as a hundred thousand pair of genes the fundamental building blocks of our hereditary traits. There are many variations for genes, but really two classifications. o General those that identify us as humans o Specific those that give us individual characteristics Our genes are made up of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) DNA consists of a long string of four repeating nucleotides: o Adenine (A) o Cytosine (C) o Guanine (G) o Thymine (T)

 DNA, like digital information has beginning codes and ending codes to tell us where packets of genetic data or segments begin and end. With DNA, at the end and beginning of DNA stands are A/T and G/C Most of our DNA is exactly the same, only a small percentage is different from each other. The location where specific DNA information is located is called a locus. The information that is different between individuals is called Polymorphisms the part examined during forensic DNA analysis. Like fingerprint information, DNA information is converted to a numerical value for ease of search. Combined DNA Information System (CODIS) is actually a combination of databases. 153 Laboratories in 49 states Actually includes three different type of databases Convicted Sex Offender, other offenders, missing persons

Definition of crime
Crime is the breaking of rules or laws for which some governing authority (via mechanisms such as legal systems) can ultimately prescribe a conviction. Crimes may also result in cautions, rehabilitation or be unenforced. Individual human societies may each define crime and crimes differently, in different localities (state, local, international), at different time stages of the so-called "crime", from planning, disclosure, supposedly intended, supposedly prepared, incomplete, complete or future proclaimed after the "crime".[citation needed]

While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime; for example: breaches of contract and of other civil law may rank as "offences" or as "infractions". Modern societies generally regard crimes as offences against the public or the state, as distinguished from torts (wrongs against private parties that can give rise to a civil cause of action).

Crime in the social and legal framework is the set of facts or assumptions (causes, consequences and objectives) that are part of a case in which they were committed acts punishable under criminal law, and the application of which depends on the agent of a sentence or security measure criminal. Usually includes a felony violation of a criminal rule or act against law, in particular at the expense of people or moral. A crime may be illegal (as is the cause of evil or injury) or perfectly legal (when the act done is not a necessary consequence of the conduct of the agent but determined by others). Illegal and punishable crime is the violation of any rule of administrative, fiscal or criminal liability on the part of agents of the state or practice of any wrongdoing and notoriously harmful to self or against third parties, provided for in criminal law, since they practiced with guilt (the first act that causes injury criminal actions or omissions to produce adequate evidence also illegal). Legal and not punishable crime are all acts in self-defense or otherwise determined by the illegal or criminal conduct of others that happened in the first place (or omission adequate to protect the staff member who is a victim of illegal crime)

England and Wales Whether a given act or omission constitutes a crime does not depend on the nature of that act or omission. It depends on the nature of the legal consequences that may follow it.[7] An act or omission is a crime if it is capable of being followed by what are called criminal proceedings.[8][9] The following definition of "crime" was provided by the Prevention of Crimes Act 1871, and applied for the purposes of section 10 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1908: The expression "crime" means, in England and Ireland, any felony or the offence of uttering false or counterfeit coin, or of possessing counterfeit gold or silver coin, or the offence of obtaining goods or money by false pretences, or the offence of conspiracy to defraud, or any misdemeanour under the fifty-eighth section of the Larceny Act, 1861.

Scotland For the purpose of section 243 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, a crime means an offence punishable on indictment, or an offence punishable on summary conviction, and for the commission of which the offender is liable under the statute making the offence punishable to be imprisoned either absolutely or at the discretion of the court as an alternative for some other punishment. Sociology A normative definition views crime as deviant behavior that violates prevailing norms cultural standards prescribing how humans ought to behave normally. This approach considers the complex realities surrounding the concept of crime and seeks to understand how changing social, political, psychological, and economic conditions may affect changing definitions of crime and the form of the legal, law-enforcement, and penal responses made by society. These structural realities remain fluid and often contentious. For example: as cultures change and the political environment shifts, societies may criminalise or decriminalise certain behaviours, which directly affects the statistical crime rates, influence the allocation of resources for the enforcement of laws, and (re-)influence the general public opinion. Similarly, changes in the collection and/or calculation of data on crime may affect the public perceptions of the extent of any given "crime problem". All such adjustments to crime statistics, allied with the experience of people in their everyday lives, shape attitudes on the extent to which the State should use law or social engineering to enforce or encourage any particular social norm. Behaviour can be controlled and influenced[by whom?] in many ways without having to resort to the criminal justice system. Indeed, in those cases where no clear consensus exists on a given norm, the drafting of criminal law by the group in power to prohibit the behaviour of another group may seem to some observers an improper limitation of the second group's freedom, and the ordinary members of society have less respect for the law or laws in general whether the authorities actually enforce the disputed law or not. Other definitions Legislatures can pass laws (called mala prohibita) that define crimes against social norms. These laws vary from time to time and from place to place: note variations in gambling laws, for example, and the prohibition or encouragement of duelling in history. Other crimes, called mala in se, count as outlawed in almost all societies, (murder, theft and rape, for example). English criminal law and the related criminal law of Commonwealth countries can define offences that the courts alone have developed over the years, without any actual legislation: common law offences. The courts used the concept of malum in se to develop various common law offences.