Criminals

• Introduction to Criminology exam
• Criminology is a scientific approach to studying criminal behavior
• Criminology is a body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon, including making laws, breaking laws, and reacting towards law-breaking
• Criminology is the scientific study of causes of crime in relation to man and society, who set and define rules and regulations for themselves and others to govern
• The word "criminology" was derived from two Greek words: "crimen" meaning crime or offense, and "logia" meaning study
• Nature of Criminology (D.A.N.S):

  • Dynamic: Changes as social conditions change
  • Applied science: Uses various social sciences to interpret and explain crime and criminal behavior
  • Nationalistic: Study varies from culture to culture and existing laws of the land
  • Social science: Academic discipline concerned with society and relationships among individuals within a society, studying crime as a social phenomenon
• Divisions of Criminology (C.S.P):

  • Criminal Etiology: Scientific analysis of the causes of crime
  • Sociology of Law: Scientific analysis of conditions under which penal/criminal laws develop as a process of formal social control
  • Penology: Concerned with control, prevention of crime, treatment of youthful offenders
• Different views of crime:

  • Consensus Views: General agreement among citizens on behaviors outlawed by criminal law
  • Conflict Views: Crime controlled by those with wealth, power, and position, shaped by values of ruling class
  • Interactionist View: Crime reflects preferences and opinions of people holding social power in a legal jurisdiction
• Classical Theory:

  • People have free will in decision-making
  • Punishment can deter crime if proportional, fits the crime, and is carried out promptly
  • Utilitarianism or Hedonistic doctrine: Actions should bring the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
• Five Principles of the Classical School:

  • Principle of Rationality
  • Principle of Hedonism
  • Principle of Punishment
  • Human Rights Principle
  • Due Process Principle
• Great Philosophers of Classical Theory:

  • Cesare Beccaria: Crime seen as injury to society, punishment should prevent crime through deterrence
  • Jeremy Bentham: Advocated social control based on the principle of utility, recommended penalties to outweigh pleasure derived from criminal activity
• Neo-Classical School:

  • Crime result of free will but committed due to compelling reasons
  • Humans guided by reason, possess free will, responsible for acts, can be controlled by fear of punishment
• Positive/Positivist School:

  • Rejects free will, presumes criminal behavior caused by internal and external factors
  • Relies on empirical methods to test hypotheses
• Great Philosophers of Positivist Theory:

  • Cesare Lombroso: Crime is a social and moral phenomenon, criminal responsibility based on dreadfulness or dangerous state
• Cesare Lombroso (1835 – 1909) is considered the father of modern criminology
• Lombroso rejected the Classical School's idea that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature
• Lombroso applied the concept of atavism for his theory on the evolution of crimes
• According to Lombroso, criminals are biological throwbacks to a primitive or atavistic stage of evolution
• Lombroso classified criminals into three classes: Born Criminals, Insane Criminals, and Criminaloids
• Rafael Garofalo (1852 – 1934) formulated a sociological definition of crime based on moral abnormalities
• Garofalo distinguished between Natural Crimes and Police Crimes
• Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857) rejected free will in favor of Determinism
• Enrico Ferri (1856 – 1929) considered crime as the effect of multiple causes
• Ferri classified criminals into categories: Born or instinctive, Insane, Passional, Occasional, and Habitual criminals
• Gabriel Tarde (1843 – 1904) emphasized that social factors explain variations in crime rates
• Tarde viewed professional criminals as individuals who undergo a long apprenticeship similar to legitimate occupations
• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels described the ongoing struggle between social classes in capitalist societies
• Willem Bonger advanced the notion that in capitalist societies, only those lacking power are subject to criminal law
• Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet used quantitative techniques to study the influence of social factors on crime rates
• Andre-Michel Guerry mapped crime rates in France and concluded that property crimes were higher in wealthy areas
• Criminal Law defines crimes, their nature, and provides for their punishment
• Legal definition of crime: an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law without defense or justification
• Social definition of crime: an act that a group regards as menacing enough to justify formal reaction
• Two categories of crime: Mala in se (bad in itself) and Mala prohibita (wrong because prohibited)
• Felonies are acts and omissions punishable by law
• Crimes can be classified by means of commission (Dolo or Culpa) and stages of execution (Attempted, Frustrated, Consummated)
• Crimes can also be classified by plurality (Single Crime, Complex Crime, Compound Crime)
• Compound crime: when a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies
• Complex crime proper: when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other
• Grave Felonies: those which the law attaches the capital punishment and afflictive penalties