Upon studying the laws of ancient Babylon, it is apparent that the civilization took a tough on crime approach with serious concerns for social order and control. The Law Code of Hammurabi (ca. 1800 B.C.E.) sought to bring justice to ancient Babylon “so that the strong should not harm the weak” (Strayer 95). In some ways, the codes negate the above intention through class divides, gender inequality, and familial punishments. Gender and social class hierarchies determined how crimes would be punished, therefore demonstrating how Babylonian society valued external social controls and normative family structures for societal functioning. Overall, the laws protect good social order at the expense of the welfare of individual persons, even the
