The study of law has been central to sociology since the beginning of the discipline, and for good reason. What a society decides to call a crime or presumes is deviant behavior, how it exacts punishment, and the nature of its courts and legal profession are important in their own right and also provide key windows into the broader society. For example, it is impossible to understand fully how business organizations operate nor the characteristics and health of a democracy (or any other political system), nor the nature and extent of social inequalities, including those of race, class and gender, nor how people think about fairness, justice, their broader culture or even themselves without some knowledge of law.