[metastart]

Sociology as a field arguably emerged from the study of crime. We have annual crime statistics which we all take for granted today but two hundred years ago or so it was a revolutionary concept. It was thought that crime was something spontaneous and driven by animal spirits, but crime statistics showed the contrary that crime was in fact a fairly consistent part of a society. Once one could compare crime rates across different societies, then it become clear that crime was very much related to the organization of a society, etc. -- all of this at the time was very surprising. It's this insight that I think drives a lot of "liberals" to be somewhat anti-punishment and see the society at fault or blame...while "conservatives" still tend to focus on individual responsibility. Another tension!