crim2

• Components of Theory

  • Concepts - symbolic representation of an actual thing
  • Construct - concepts with no physical reference (e.g. democracy, learning, freedom)
  • Principle - relationship between two or more concepts or constructs
• Development of theories

  1. Speculative - attempts to explain what is happening

  2. Descriptive - gathers descriptive data to describe what is really happening

  3. Constructive - revises old theories and develops new ones based on continuing research
• Schools of Thought in Criminology

  • Demonological or Pre-Scientific School
  • Classical School
  • Neo-Classical School
  • Positivist/Italian School
  • Chicago School
  • Ecological School
  • Typological School
  • Cartographic/Geographical School
• Demonological or Pre-Scientific School


  • Centres the idea that crime is a handiwork of evil, with evil spirits or demons entering human body to commit sins
• Classical School


  • Believes that all people who violated specific law should receive identical punishment regardless of age, gender or sanity
• Neo-Classical School


  • Judges should render assistance with minimum and maximum limits
  • Mitigating and justifying circumstances should be recognized in the imposition of penalties
  • Minors are exempted from criminal responsibilities
  • Mentally deficient and insane person at the time of the commission of the crime are also exempted from criminal responsibility
• Positivist/Italian School


  • Challenged the dominance of classical position, using careful observation and analysis of natural phenomena to understand human behavior
• Classical Theory


  • People have free will to choose criminal or lawful solutions to meet their needs or settle their problems
  • A person's choice of criminal solutions may be controlled by their fear of punishment
  • The more severe, certain, and swift the punishment, the better able it is to control criminal behavior
• Cesare Marchese de Beccaria- Bonesana


  • An Italian philosopher and politician best known for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty and was a founding work in the field of criminology
  • His theory was based on free will and that people want to achieve pleasure and avoid pain
  • To deter crime one must administer pain in an appropriate amount to counterbalance the pleasure obtained from crime
  • The catch phrase was "let punishment fit the crime"
• Jeremy Bentham

  • An English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer who advocated utilitarianism and fair treatment of animals
  • His work was governed by the utilitarian theory (pleasure and pain theory), which assumes that all of our actions are calculated in accordance with their likelihood of bringing happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain)
  • Laws are created to provide happiness (pleasure due to peace and order) in the community
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  • People have free will to choose how to act and what to do
  • Deterrence is based upon the ontological notion because a human being is a hedonist (only seeks pleasure and avoids pain) or a rational calculator (weighs up costs and benefits before acting)
  • The swifter and certain the punishment, the more effective it is in deterring criminal behavior
  • Punishment (of sufficient severity) can deter people from committing crime because the cost (penalties) outweighs benefits and severity of punishment should be proportionate to the crime
• Arguments against Classical School Theory

  • Unfair - treats all men as if they were robots without regard to individual differences and circumstances
  • Unjust - provides the same punishment whether a criminal is a first time offender or recidivist
  • The theory has a nature and definition of punishment that is not individualized
• Deterrence


  • If punishment is certain, severe, and swift, then people will refrain from committing criminal acts
  • Specific Deterrence - aimed at the wrongdoer and tries to deter him from crime by punishing him
  • General Deterrence - aimed at everyone, deters everyone from committing a crime by punishing the criminal and thus establishing an example
  • Elements of deterrence: Celerity (speed of punishment), Certainty (punishment is sure to happen), Severity (amount of pain inflicted)
• Incapacitation


  If more criminals are sent to prison, the crime rate should go down. Placing the offender behind bars during their prime years should lessen their lifetime opportunity to commit crime
• Just desert


  Criminal sanctions should be geared precisely to the seriousness of the crime
• Neo-Classical Theory


  • Recognizes the existence of free will but argues that certain individuals cannot exercise free will intelligently by reason of age, mental condition, or circumstances such as minority, insanity, or duress
  • Criticized the harsh legalism of classical school for failing to exempt these kinds of offenders
• Rational Choice Theory


  • Efforts should be made to reduce criminal opportunity by deterring would-be offenders and incarcerating known criminals
  • People who are likely to commit crime lack inhibition against misconduct, value the excitement and thrills of breaking the law, have low stake in conformity, and are willing to take greater chances than the average person
  • If they will be convinced that their actions will bring severe punishment, only the totally irrational would be willing to engage in crime
• Difference between Classical Theory and Rational Choice Theory

  • Classical Theory - Portrayed criminals as people who tried to maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain
  • Rational Choice Theory - Based on intelligent thought processes and criminal decision-making, recognizing that criminals are sloppy thinkers and imperfect in their decision-making, and that human behavior is both willful and determined
• Concepts of Rational Choice Theory

  • Law violating behavior occurs when an offender decides to risk breaking the law after considering both personal factors and situational factors
  • People who believe that the risk of crime outweigh the rewards may decide to go straight
  • Crime is both Offense-specific (offenders will react selectively to the characteristics of an individual act) and Offender-specific (criminals are not simply automatons who engage in random acts of anti-social behavior, but must decide whether they have the pre-requisites to commit a successful criminal act)
• Human behavior is both willful and determined
• Rational Choice Theory


  Law violating behavior occurs when an offender decides to risk breaking the law after considering both personal factors and situational factors
• Rational Choice Theory


  People who believe that the risk of crime outweigh the rewards may decide to go straight. If they think they are likely to get arrested and punished, they are more likely to seek treatment and turn their lives around than risk criminal activities
• Crime is offense-specific


  Offenders will react selectively to the characteristics of an individual act
• Crime is offender-specific


  Criminals are not simply automatons who engage in random acts of anti-social behavior. Before deciding to commit crime, individuals must decide whether they have the pre-requisites to commit successful criminal act
• Structuring Criminality

  • Economic opportunity - some people may engage in criminal activity simply because they need money to support their lifestyle and perceive few other potential income sources. Crime also becomes attractive when an individual becomes convinced that it will result in excessive profits with few costs
  • Learning and Experience - career criminals may learn the limitations of their powers; they know when to take the chance and when to be cautious. Experienced criminals may turn from a life of crime when they develop a belief that the risk of crime is greater than the potential profit. Sometimes experience in the profession shapes criminal decision making
  • Knowledge of criminal techniques - criminals report learning techniques that help them avoid detection, a sure sign of rational thinking and planning
• Structuring Crime


  • Choosing the Type of Crime - the choice of crime may dictated by market conditions or structured by situational factors
  • Choosing the Time and Place - there is evidence of rationality in the way criminals choose the time and place of their crimes
  • Selecting the Target of Crime - criminals may also be well aware of the target vulnerability. When they choose targets they may shy off when they sense danger
• Routine Activities Theory


  Crime is a product of people's daily activities. It suggests that crime is a normal function of the routine activities of modern living; offenses can be expected if there is the availability of suitable target, the absence of capable guardians, and the presence of motivated offenders
• Routine Activities Theory


  The routine activities approach gives equal weight to the role of both the victim and the offender in the crime process. Criminal opportunity is significantly influenced by the victim's lifestyle and behavior. The greater the opportunity for criminals and victims to interact, the greater the probability of crime reduce
• Broken Windows Theory


  Poor physical appearance of a neighborhood = attraction of criminals of all types
• Expected Utility Principle


  Economic theory which states that people will act in a manner that increases their benefits and reduces their losses. This ties in closely with classical criminology and, by definition, rational choice theory, where people seek to increase their pleasure and reduce their pain
• Crime Pattern Theories


  Potential targets and victims have activity spaces that intersect the activity spaces of potential offenders
• Reactions to Choice Theories

  • Situational crime prevention - crime prevention method that relies on the reduction of opportunity to commit a criminal act by (1) making them more difficult to perform; (2) reducing their reward; (3) increasing their risk
  • Target Hardening Techniques - crime prevention techniques that makes it more difficult for a would be delinquent to carry out the illegal act
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

  A set of practices designed to make potential criminal targets less attractive. The belief that crime is a rational act is used to make a potential target less attractive to a criminal, and thus not a "rational" target
• Early Positivism


  The earliest scientific studies examining human behavior emphasizes physical and biological abnormality as the distinguishing mark of the criminal. Criminals are viewed as somehow different, abnormal, defective, and therefore inferior biologically
• Physiognomy


  The study regarding structure and characteristics of human face. The word is derived from the ancient Greek word for nature, physis, and the one for judge, gnomon
• Physiognomy

  • Giambattista della Porta - Founder of physiognomy, emphasizes that abnormal elements of human face are principal causes of crime
  • Johann Kaspar Lavater - Showed a close relationship between human face & conduct, studied the facial features of criminals and found that the shape of the ears, nose, and eyes, and the distances between them were associated with anti-social behavior
• Phrenology


  The study of human skull in where attempt is made to find out the close relation between human skull features & crimes
• Phrenology


  • Franz Joseph Gall - Founder of phrenology, applied the term "Craniology", published materials on the relation between head conformations & the personal characteristics of individual
  • Johann Gaspar Spurzheim - Student of Gall, continues researching along with Gall on phrenology, made this theory popular in Britain & America
• Body Type Theories


  Theories that try to establish a correlation between physical structure of the criminal & the crime
• Body Type Theories


  • William H. Sheldon - Developed ideas from the fact that life begins in the embryo which is made up of three different tissue layers: endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. He attributes criminality to endomorphics & mesomorphics rather than the ectomorphics
  • Ernest Kretschmer - Suggested body types: asthenic, athletic, pyknic, and dysplastic or mixed
  • Earnest Hooton - Reexamined the work of Goring and able to identify the type of crimes mostly committed by different person classified according to their type of physique