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Was criminology born in Europe?

To answer this question we need to investigate the historical basis of the profession and take, without further delay, a wonderful journey that will lead us to the present day. To explain how to become a criminologist, it is appropriate to deal with a short story on the origin, history and evolution of this fascinating discipline.

The very first dawn of criminology can in fact be traced back to the European Enlightenment. Many authors claim that criminology was born in the eighteenth century with the treatise of the Italian jurist Cesare Beccaria: “On crimes and punishments”.

From the premise of the treaty we can read: “he laws, which although they are or ought to be pacts of free men, were for the most part only the instruments of the passions of some few, or born from a fortuitous and passing necessity; not already dictated by a cold examiner of human nature, who in one place concentrated the actions of a multitude of men, and considered them from this point of view: maximum happiness divided into the greatest number”. The punishments, according to said author, aretherefore aimed both at preventing the perpetrator from breaking the laws again, and at diverting other citizens from committing similar faults.

The punishments must therefore be chosen in proportion to the crime committed and must be able to leave an indelible impression on men, without however being excessively tormenting or unnecessarily severe for those who have violated the law. During the mid-nineteenth century, criminology rose to the rank of autonomous science.