Criminology, criminal justice, and crime are dealt with here in a historical perspective with related implications for the future from the presented trends. The appearance of independent academic units specializing in criminology and criminal justice stands out as a significant educational area of development during the past 30 years. The closing of the school of Criminology at the University of California, Berkeley, is discussed as a forerunner of what needs to change in the study of criminology, i.e. academic units of criminal justice should incorporate legal concerns into the curriculum and hire legally-trained faculty members. The author then discusses the improvement of quantitative research in criminology, the anachronistic nature of grand juries and preliminary hearings, victimless crimes, and capital punishment. The article concludes with a call for more exploration of the relationship between a nation's ethos and its level of criminal activity. 16 references (Author abstract modified)