You are studying this topic in history because it helps you to understand how things have changed,(and have stayed roughly the same) over a long period of 1000 years. What to do to punish and then prevent crime has always been a difficult problem to solve and always will be. By having a clear idea as to what was tried in the past and whether it worked or not, you will be well-informed so you can have a worthwhile opinion on this important issue facing society. You will notice that each period in history has its own problems, whether its simple stealing from a house or an animal in the Middle Ages or cyber crime today. Some experiments work for a short time and then are replaced while others last much longer. Serious crimes like murder were dealt with by the death penalty for hundreds of years but even this punishment came to an end in 1969. Meanwhile we still have the system of the jury to try people in court. I wonder what new punishments the future will bring in the hope that there will be less crime in society.
