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Classical Theory - Cesare Beccaria
Cesare Beccaria publishes his groundbreaking book “On Crimes And Punishment”, where he condemns the death penalty and fights just a just criminal prosecution system. In this, he detailed that the punishment should be equal to the crime, He wanted to direct correlation between the crime caused and the harm to the victim and society. He also argued that the punishment should be swift, so as not to allow further similar crimes to be committed. -
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Classical Theory - Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was quoted as saying “If the pain outweighs the gain, man will be deterred”, meaning that if the criminal was to get more out of the crime than a punishment, he would take the sentence then live on with his life, an example can be a robbery of £2m, and a sentence of 6 months. The Criminal would take the 6 months then be free to spend his £2m on whatever they wished. -
Voluntarism Impact
The impact on modern society made by Voluntarism is that pressure from media and society can have an effect on the sentencing of a criminal. For instance, Operation Yewtree has come under intense media and social scrutiny in it's failure to detain, question and arrest a number of high profile sexual assaults on child. In response to this, the Offenders caught have been handy heavy and lengthy jail sentences. -
Classical Theory
The Classica Theory came about through a combination of Fear and Optimism throughout the classes. Beccaria wanted crimes to be punished from a Law perspective, not Religion or Superstition. He also commented saying that Laws were ambiguous, and not clear enough. He made a note that classes were punished different for the same crime. For instance, in Murder: Upper Class; Fine, Lower Class; Death Penalty. -
Classical Theory on Modern Society
The impact of the Classical Theory in modern society is still standing today. The fact that a petty criminal cannot be executed for a small crime is testament to what Beccaria and Bentham were trying to achieve. The thought a criminal can be proprtionally punished based on the severerity of his crime was a massive step forward in the modern Criminal Justice System theories. The fact that class was diregarded also made the punishing of criminals a much easier task, and more fair to society. -
Determinism in Crime
Determinism has links to Lombroso's atavistic theories and opposes the Voluntarisms "Free Will" theory. Determinists believe that if a Criminal has no control over their behaviour ie. their criminal tendencies, then they have no choice over what they do, subsequently avoiding punishment. They aim to help, rather than punish, believing everybody has a chance of being equal and serve society well, saying rehabilitation is an important preventive image. -
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Voluntarism
Voluntarism was a coming together of different views and theories. Free will was a massive component, meaning that the criminal knew what they were doing and had every intention of doing what they did. The Criminal weighed up the pros and cons to determine whether or not the crime would be worth the punishment dealt. It was hated by the Upper Class and accepted by the Lower Class, as it blurred the boundaries between them, making the criminal system more equal and fair. -
Determinism in Modern Society
Similar with Positivism, "helping rather than hindering" is a common sight in modern court rooms, where suspects deemed as mentally fragile or unstable are helped with medication and medical supervision instead of a jail sentence, although the lines between lying to avoid a jail sentence and being legitimately mentally fragile are easily blurred and confused. Also, homeless people may abuse the system by shoplifting on cold nights to get a warm bed and hot food in a jail cell. -
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Cesare Lombroso - Biological Theory
Lombroso openly rejected the Classical Theory. He spearheaded Anthropological Criminology, stating that Criminals are born that way and have specific "criminal genes" inherited. He used this, and other findings (such as an autopsy for a criminal named Giuseppe Villela) to create his "Atavistic" theory, saying that criminals are a biological throwback to an earlier, more primitive time. Characteristics such as certain definitions to the jaw, eyes, ears, nose and arms were sufficient to label. -
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Positivism
Positivism aimed to look at the whole picture, taking into account mental illnesses. Positivists believed that everybody was born to be good in a basic sense, and the "criminal aspect" was gained through outside factors, such as a violent upbringing and abuse. They looked at each criminal as an individual and never aimed to generalize. They also believed criminals could be cured through medication or mental institutes. -
Biological in Modern Society
The Biological Theory by Lombroso was used by William Sheldon in his theory of generalizing people based on their physical appearance. Neither theories were used for long because they were too stereotypical. In Lombroso's time, he advocated for people of a certain description to be jailed so as to "save society from future crime", meaning in the false imprisonment of many people. -
Positivism in Modern Society
Modern Soceity still uses Positivism when dealing with Criminals who lodge an "Insanity Plea". Here, criminals are not given a definite prison sentence, instead they are jailed until they are classed as "cured", such as Ian Brady and Antoly Moskvin, who are ready to be released as soon as they are deemed "cured". -
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Interactionism
Interactionism was spearheaded by Howard S. Becker in the early-mid 60s. Becker's book "Outsiders" provided a solid foundation for the Interactionism theory of "Labelling" where if a person is labelled in a certain way, then they are more inclined to act in a way that lives up to their label, through stereotyping and "self-fulfilling prophecies". This can provide stigmatic representations of things, such as symbols ie. the Swastika, which consequently stigmatized the Germans for years to come. -
Interactionism in Modern Society
Howard Becker described labelling as a "deviance that is not a quality of the act that the person commits, but due to the application of the label from others", meaning that a "Hoodie" is more likely to commit yob-related crimes in a group such as vandalism. This key interactionist theory can be held responsible for several riots due to racial labelling. A person cannot be labelled if they haven't committed a crime in the first place. -
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Realism
Created by the 1970s Conservative Government, they believed that crime was a social problem that took into account the family values and morals of the individual. They believed that Prison was a good deterrent, believing that the rehabilitation methods used by the Positivists were ineffective. Some argued that jail was worse as new criminal skills could be learnt whilst incarcerated. -
Right Realism - Zero Tolerance
Zero Tolerance policies was an act introduced by the Right Realists to treat a single crime, across all borders and classes, with the same harsh sentencing. This is to provide fairer and more equal sentencing across board. -
Left Realism - Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is the premise of setting up meetings between the Victim and the Offender, and letting them talk together and work things out, hopefully concluding in the Offender's complete rehabilitation and the overall stopping of their criminal lifestyle. -
Left Realism
Left Realists believed in a triangle of relations; The Offender, The State and The Victim. They also view Free Will and say that Man should be responsible for their actions. They also believe crime effected the working class people more.