ANSWER:

A. Offense is a legal term used to refer to conducts or omissions that violate and are punishable
under criminal law. The terms offense, criminal offense, and crime are often used as
interchangeable synonyms. The term offense may be frequently used to describe a minor crime.

B. Cesare Beccaria
Considered the father of criminal law and modern criminal justice, Beccaria studied mathematics and
economics before turning to law. His most famous work, On Crimes and Punishment, was the first
published argument against the death penalty. Beccaria advocated that the certainty of punishment
worked better as a deterrent than the severity of the punishment.
Jeremy Bentham
An English philosopher, Bentham’s work ranged from economics and advocating animal rights, to social
reform and the founding of welfarism. He had an influence in reforming schools, prisons, courts, and
England’s Poor Laws, and attempted to codify common law into statutes. In line with his opinions on
transparency, Bentham’s body was preserved upon his death, and his auto-icon is publicly displayed at
University College London.
Cesare Lombroso
Bringing the term born criminal into existence, Lombroso argued that criminality was inherent, and
could be identified through physical characteristics, suggesting criminals were evolutionary regressions.
Lombroso would categorise criminals into four distinctions: Criminaloids; Criminals by Passion; Born
Criminals; Occasional Criminals; and by collecting anthropological data, such as physiological
measurements, would create a methodology for predicting criminal behaviour.
Alexandre Lacassagne
Creating the Lacassagne School of Criminology in Lyon, France, Alexandre Lacassagne was a
contemporary and rival of Lombroso, who came to crime and psychology through his work as a
physician. It was his belief that criminality was influenced more by social factors, than hereditary ones;
he would determine his own categories concerning criminality: thought; act; and instinctual. His partial
emphasis on phrenology meant his contributions were overlooked for some time.
Enrico Ferri
This time, a student of Lombroso: Enrico Ferri was a radical socialist, whose most famous work, Criminal
Sociology, influenced Argentina’s 1921 penal code reforms. He advocated making changes to economics
and the social factors that contribute to criminal behaviour, stating that it is better to prevent crime
than punish it.
Hans Eysenck
As an opponent of Nazism, Eysenck fled from Berlin to England as a young man. As a psychology
professor, his primary field of study considered the genetic factors that influence personality. His
investigation into psychoticism gave rise to his interest in criminology. With the help of his wife, Sybil,
Eysenck produced a book on crime and personality, and developed theories on behavioural therapy and
the relation between personality and intelligence.
Robert D. Hare
Author of notable criminology books Psychopathy: Theory and Research and Without Conscience: The
Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, Hare is a Canadian researcher in the field of criminal
psychology. His work looks at psychopathology and psychophysiology, and, from his research into the
qualities of a psychopath, concluded that it may not be possible to identify murderers. Hare’s 20-item
checklist is still considered the most reliable metric for measuring psychopathy.
Jane Addams
Only the second female recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Adams eschewed her privileged upbringing
and traditional womanly duties to study how society and poverty influence crime. Known as the
“mother of social work” Addams was an activist and lecturer in these subjects, encouraging their study
and helping to establish the US settlement house movement in 1889, with the aim of to combatting
crime through economic security.
Edwin Sutherland
One of the most influential criminologists of the 20th Century, Edwin Sutherland authored Principles of
Criminology, a popular textbook. It is from Sutherland we have the term white-collar criminal, and he
gave rise to the belief that delinquency likely resulted from learned behaviour. He observed that
criminal behaviour stems from criminal associations, and suggested social disorganisation and conflict
are major contributors to crime.
William Julius
A prominent socialist and Harvard alumnus, Julius studied urban sociology, with particular focus given to
those factors – especially urban poverty – that contribute to crime. Much of his work revolves around
racial factors, such as how poverty among black communities influences different crime rates, with
discrimination, education, housing, and employment being taken into consideration. His works The Truly
Disadvantaged and The Declining Significance of Race examine this at greater length.
If you’re curious about the causes of crime and the efforts taken to understand and prevent it, then why
not take a look at BA (Hons) Criminology & Psychology or BA (Hons) Criminology & Law and see how
your own contributions could benefit this fascinating field.