crime

Introduction
The concept of crime: criminal codes
- Common law
- Civil law
- Islamic law
- Africa
- China
General principles of criminal law
- Rule against retroactivity
- Intention
- Criminal responsibility
Classification of crimes
Measurement of crime
Characteristics of offenders
- Gender patterns
- Age patterns
- Social-class patterns
- Racial patterns
Characteristics of victims
Theories of causation
Detection of crime
- The role of forensic science
- Suspect identification
- Gathering evidence
- Interrogation and confession
The court system
- Anglo-American countries
  - The decision to prosecute
  - Trial procedure
  - Sentencing
- Continental Europe
- Russia
- Islamic countries
- Africa
- China
Crime and social policy

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

French National Police: arresting suspect

Interior view of the U.S. Supreme Court courtroom in Washington, D.C., showing empty justices' chairs behind a bench, marble columns, red curtains, and a clock above.

Infographic showing mass shootings in the United States since 1982, including a US map of locations, annual counts, fatality numbers, weapon types, shooter demographics, and a timeline of major incidents.

At a Glance

crime summary

Quizzes

graphic of a person standing holding a knife. murder, kill, serial killer, stab

Famous Serial Killers

Frank Costello testifying before the U.S. Senate investigating committee headed by Estes Kefauver, 1951.

American Mobsters Quiz

Related Questions

How can a legal duty to act arise from a relationship between people?
How can criminal punishment seek to rehabilitate offenders as well as deter crime?
How can helping another person commit a crime create criminal responsibility?
How can intoxication affect a charge that requires specific intent?
How can mental impairment affect sentencing even when it does not excuse a crime?
How can someone be guilty of murder under a felony murder statute when police accidentally kill a hostage?
How did the criminal and civil cases involving O.J. Simpson have different outcomes?
How do felony murder laws assign responsibility for deaths during dangerous felonies?
How do strict-liability offenses differ from most other crimes?
How does a principal in the first degree differ from a principal in the second degree?
How does acting purposely differ from acting knowingly under the Model Penal Code?
How does an accessory before the fact participate in a crime?
How does criminal law differ from civil law in the kind of wrongdoing each addresses?
How does mens rea influence criminal responsibility?
How does recklessness differ from negligence in criminal law?
How does the Model Penal Code classify states of mind in criminal cases?
How does the principle of legality affect the way courts interpret ambiguous criminal statutes?
How does the principle of legality protect people from criminal punishment?
What penalties are commonly associated with misdemeanors in the United States?
What protections do criminal defendants have against unreasonable searches and seizures?
What purposes have thinkers such as Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham given for criminal law?
When can negligent conduct support a criminal conviction?
Which civil rights can be lost after a felony conviction in some U.S. states?
Which offenses may be prosecuted without proving mens rea?
Who may file a civil lawsuit in the United States?
Why are movements during an epileptic seizure usually not considered criminal acts?
Why can a person who unknowingly carries out a criminal act be considered an innocent agent?
Why do most crimes require proof that a defendant acted purposely knowingly or recklessly?
Why do public welfare offenses sometimes not require proof of criminal intent?
Why do some legal systems require a court to decide whether enough evidence exists before a trial begins?
Why have strict-liability offenses been criticized by some legal scholars?
Why must criminal laws be clear enough to give fair warning?
What is bootlegging?
What is swatting?
Why is swatting difficult to prevent?
What was the outcome of the 2017 swatting incident involving Casey Viner, Shane Gaskill, and Tyler Barriss?
How is a homicide defined?
What are the differences between domestic and international terrorism?
What are the types of terrorism?

Politics, Law & Government Law, Crime & Punishment

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External Websites

Griffith Open Textbooks - Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice - What is Crime? Defining and Measuring Criminal Behaviour
US Department of Justice - Organized Crime And Racketeering
Minnesota State Pressbooks - Criminology 1st Edition - What is Crime?
University of Minnesota Libraries - Types of Crime
Business LibreTexts - Types of Crimes
PBS - CONSTITUTION USA - Crime and Punishment

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

crime - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
crime - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

crime

law

Written by

Thomas J. Bernard

Professor, Criminal Justice and Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Co-author of Theoretical Criminology and others.

Thomas J. BernardAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Sep. 18, 2026 •History

crime, the intentional commission of an act usually deemed socially harmful or dangerous and specifically defined, prohibited, and punishable under criminal law. Most countries have enacted a criminal code in which all of the criminal law can be found, though English law—the source of many other criminal-law systems—remains uncodified. The definitions of particular crimes contained in a code must be interpreted in the light of many principles, some of which may not actually be expressed...

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