39001172 2 Schools of Thoughts

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Chapter 2 Schools of ThoughtsReviewer in Introduction to Criminology with Psychology of CrimePrepared by Mr. Rudy V. Ortea, RC

Classical School of Criminology1. It is based on the assumption that criminals choose to commit crimes after weighing the

consequences of their action.2. Individuals have free will to cehoose legal or illegal means to get what they want.3. The test of punishment can deter people from committing crime4. Society can control behavior by making the pain in punishment greater than the pleasure

of criminal gains.

Hedonistic acting in terms of their own self interest, but rational, capable of considering whichcourse of action was really in their self interest.

Utilitarianism it stressed that things must be useful, purposeful and reasonable.

Letres de cachet this is issued by monarchs under which an individual could be imprisonedfor almost any reason or for no reason at all.

Classical Theory (Free Will Theory and Moral Calculus)

It is based on the assumption that criminals choose to commit crime after weighing the

benefits and costs of their actions. Individuals have free will to choose legal or illegal means to

get what they want. Crime can be deterred by certain, severe, and swift punishment.

Advocates of Classical Criminology

Cesare Beccaria

Member of the LAccademia dei Pugni (Academy of Fists)

Assigned by the Academy to prepare a report on the prison system

Dei Delitti e Delle Pene which means on Crimes and Punishment served as aguide for drafting of the French Penal Code which was adopted in 1791. It alsoinfluenced the first ten amendments to the US Constitution The Bill of Rights.

He wrote a coherent comprehensive design for an enlightened criminal justicesystem based on law rather than arbitrary decisions.

Father of Criminology

Father of the Classical School of Criminology

Jeremy Bentham

English legal philosopher who founded the Theory of Utilitarianism He developed utilitarian principles of punishment based on the amount of

happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain) any given act will bring to the actor.

He said that actions were right if they tended to produce the greatest happinessfor the greatest number of people (summum bonnum).

His Greatest happiness principle is also known as the Principle of Utility.

He proposed a precise pseudo-mathematical formula which was called Felicitouscalculus.

He also designed the Panoptican Prison.

Modern Outgrowths

1. Rational Choice TheoryLaw-violating behavior occurs after offenders weigh information on their personal

needs and the situational factors involved in the difficulty and risk of committing a crime.

2. Routine Activities Theory

Chapter 2 Schools of Thoughts

Reviewer in Introduction to Criminology with Psychology of Crime

Prepared by Mr. Rudy V. Ortea,RC


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Crime and delinquency are functions of the presence of motivated offenders, the

availability of suitable targets, and the absence of capable guardians.

3. General DeterrencePeople will commit crime and delinquency if they perceive that the benefits

outweigh the risks. Crime is a function of the severity, certainty, and speed ofpunishment.

4. Specific DeterrenceIf punishment is severe enough, criminals will not repeat their illegal acts.

5. IncapacitationKeeping known criminals out of circulation will reduce crime rates.

Arguments against the Classical Theory1. Unfair 2. Unjust3. Not individualized4. do not consider the mental condition of the offender

THE NEO-CLASSICAL SCHOOL Has the same basis as the classical school a belief in free will.

Composed mainly by British philosophers.

Under the its doctrine, there are situations or circumstances that made it impossible toexercise freewill are reasons to exempt the accused from conviction.

It believes that there is a need for individualized reaction to offenders.

the classical approach was far too harsh and unjust

it continues the traditions of the Classical Criminology within the framework of RightRealism

Effects of the Neo Classical School

1. children and lunatics are exempted from punishments2. certain mitigating circumstance should be taken into account

Positivist School of Criminology

also known as the Italian School of Criminology

the emphasis in the study of crime should be on the scientific treatment of the criminal

rejected the harsh legalism of the Classical Criminology and the Doctrine of Free Will

Emphasized a philosophy of individualized, scientific treatment of criminals based on thefindings of the physical and social sciences.

Reaction to the armchair philosophy and theorizing of the classical school

They view themselves as scientists rather than philosophers

There is a distinct shift from a focus on law and crime control to the inner workings of thecriminal mind and what makes it tick

Positivism this refers to a method of analysis based on the collection of observable scientificfacts.

Features of the Positivist School1. Demand for facts2. Body and mind differences between people3. Punishment should fit the individual criminal not the crime4. Criminal justice system should be guided by scientific experts5. Criminals can be treated, rehabilitated or corrected

Advocates of Positivist School1. Cesare Lombroso





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a. Father of the Positive School of Criminology or Father of Modern Criminologyb. Theory of Born Criminals it states that criminals are from a lower form of life,

nearer to the apelike ancestors than non-criminals in traits and disposition.c. Atavistic Stigmata physical features of creatures at an earlier stage of

development before they became fully human.d. He wrote Crime: Its Causes and Remedies that contains his key ideas and

classifications of criminals.e. Classifications of Criminals by Lombroso

i. Born Criminals criminal behavior is inheritedii. Criminal by passion easily influenced by great emotionsiii. Insane criminals commit crime due to abnormalities or psychological

disordersiv. Criminoloids commit crime due to less physical stamina or self-controlv. Occasional criminals commit crime due to insignificant reasonsvi. Pseudo criminals those who kill in self-defense

2. Enrico Ferria. He recognized the importance of social, economic, and political determination.

b. He was the author of Criminal Sociology in 1884c. He advocated conventional punishments and even death penalty for individuals

he assumed would never fit to live in society.d. Proponent of crime preventione. He believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible for their crimes

because they did not choose to commit crimes but were driven to commit themby conditions in their lives.

3. Rafael Garofaloa. He traced the roots of criminal behavior not to physical features but to their

psychological equivalents, which he called moral anomalies.b. According to his theory, natural crimes are found in all human societies,

regardless of the views of lawmakers, and no civilized society can afford todisregard them.

c. Natural crimes are those that offend the basic moral sentiments of probity(respect for property of others) and piety (revulsion against the infliction ofsuffering on others).

d. Garofalos Law of Adaptation followed the biological principle of Darwin interms of adaptation and natural selection.

e. Types of Criminals According to Garofaloi. Murderers those who are satisfied from vengeance and revengeii. Violent criminals those who commit very serious crimesiii. Deficient criminals those who commit crime against propertyiv. Lascivious criminals those who commit crime against chastity

4. Gabriel Tardea. Rejected Lombrosian Theory, arguing that criminals were normal people who

learned crime just as others learned legitimate trades orLaw of Imitationb. Tardes Pattern of Emulation

i. Individuals imitate others in proportion to the intensity and frequency oftheir contacts

ii. Inferiors imitate superiorsiii. When two behaviors clash, one may take the place of the other

c. His work served as the basis for Edwin Sutherlands Theory of DifferentialAssociation.

5. Emile Durkheima. One of the founders of Sociologyb. He believes that crime is not only normal in any society but was also functional.c. He defined punishment as a passionate reaction of graduated intensity to

offenses against the collective conscience.d. Anomie a breakdown of social order as a result of a loss of standards and

values





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e. Anomie Theory focused on the sociological point of the positivist school whichexplains that the absence of norms in a society provides a setting conducive tocrimes and other anti-social acts.

Other Schools of Criminology

1. Cartographical School The leaders of this school are concerned primarily with the distribution of crimes in

certain areas, both geographical and social. They view crime as a necessary expression of

social conditions. Quetelet and A.M Guery were the leaders of this approach in France and

they had a large numbers of followers in that country and in England and Germany, about

1830 to 1880.

2. The Socialist School This school is based on the writing of Marx and Engels, which commenced about

1850 and emphasized economic determinism. It concentrated on the need for equality

among all citizens. As far as crime is concerned, the basic idea is that poverty results from

private ownership of the means of production and from exploitation of the working classes.

This poverty in turn, causes people to be crime proponents of these ideas.

3. The Psychiatric School This is a continuation of Lombrosian School without the latters emphasis on

Morphological traits. The central thesis of psychiatric school is that a certain organization of

the personality develops entirely apart from criminal culture and will result in criminal

behavior regardless of social institutions.

4. Sociological and Social-psychological School Of the schools of criminology, this Sociological and Social-psychological School is

the most varied and adverse. It refuted the biological notions and developed a theory

emphasizing the importance of imitation in crime causation. Their basic notion is that one

behaves according to the customs of the society. If a man steals or kills another, he is

merely imitating someone else. The central thesis of the sociological school is that, criminal

behaviors result from the same processes as other social behaviors.




39001172 2 Schools of Thoughts

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