The Italian legal tradition called for the public display of a humiliating—but recognizable—portrait of the disgraced person.

Opium has been used as a medicinal and recreational substance in China for centuries, its shifting meanings tied to class and national identity.

People want to believe that the person they trust with their money, or their hearts, is telling the truth. The con artist relies on that.

In states transitioning from authoritarianism to democracy, resistance to police abuses can make or break the larger democratic project, explains one social scientist.

Forensic DNA evidence has been a game-changer for law enforcement, but research shows it can contribute to miscarriages of justice.

There's a whole modern industry devoted to promoting women’s financial literacy.

 Rape has costs beyond the physical and emotional: Emergency room visits, therapy, rehab, wasted tuition, lost wages, and lifestyle changes expensive.

Military desertion is not as rare as one would think.

In a 2008 paper for the British Journal of Criminology, Reese Walters looked at GMO crops from an entirely different perspective.