Crime: Its Cause and Treatment

"Crime: Its Cause and Treatment" is a book on criminology, criminal psychology and the criminal justice system. Clarence Darrow tries to answer a fundamental question: Why does a person commit a crime?

The author argues that criminal behaviour cannot be explained simply by saying that a person is "bad". He examines the influence of heredity, family, education, poverty, the environment a person grows up in, economic conditions and life circumstances. In his view, many people who end up in crime have been shaped by a combination of factors that are not entirely within their control.

Darrow also specifically analyses murder, sex crimes, property and theft, alcohol and crime, juvenile offenders, prisons and the death penalty.

An important part of the book is devoted to how society punishes offenders. Darrow criticises the idea that imprisonment and harsh sentences by themselves solve the problem of crime. Instead of revenge, he calls for understanding the causes of criminal behaviour and working more on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.