Globalisation , the new rapid movement of people , goods, culture and information has an effect on societies throughout the world . On of these effects is crime .Crime can be defined as an act that is not acceptable towards society. As society changes ideologies change . there is no constant face of crime.
Take For example the late 18th century, the industrial revolution. It was a time where a whole industry was wiped out by manufacturing plants. This creating a large amount of the population, poverty stricken. All these people emerging as a new subclass of criminals that steals for their essential living. Either by stealing food horses (method of transport) clothing e.c.t. The way crime way handled then was by a national system of criminal courts – if it can be described as a system at all, had no distinction between civil and criminal wrongs and no system of sentencing. Trials were conducted by subjecting the person to life threatening and painful situations. For instance, if a person were called to be innocent it was believed that God would protect them from being crushed to death. People also were thrown into a river with a very heavy object tied to them. If they were innocent, god will allow them to float, if guilty they would drown. Not only had they believed on spiritual influences on justice but in appearance too. For instance theorists of that time believed that ears of an unusual size , sloping fore heads ,excessively long arms , receding chins , and twisted noses were indicative of physical characteristics found among ‘criminals’.
This is far from what we see crime today. There are two significant types of crimes .Crimes that harm people that have been in criminal codes for years e.g. homicide, assault, rape , robbery , burglary, e.c.t . Then there have been ‘new crimes’ that have surfaced in recent years all associated with computers, fraud , pornography , and piracy .Technology today has made the world closer , abolishing borders either through communications or computer technologies . This has increased the communication and illegal networks of criminal activity on a global basis. In the modern world today each crime has different outcome within court each dependent on the intensity of the crime. Example ‘new crimes’ might be charged with a fine, good behaviour bond, community based orders or release with no record of conviction. However with crimes such as rap or murder one may face imprisonment , indefinite sentences .Theorists today explores the concept why individuals commit crime .They found that there is no single set of factors which causes and individual to