Classical Schools – Founded by Cesare Beccaria
or Cesare Marchese Di Beccaria Bonesana, an
Italian Criminologist and economist.
Jeremy Bentham
– pioneered classical school, an English
philosopher, economist & theoretical jurist.
– Utilitarianism – “Greatest happiness for the
greater number”
– Hedonistic Calculus/Felicity
- pain over pleasure
- people having freewill to choose their
behavior
Doctrine of Nullum Crimen Sine Lege (No Crime
without law)
- Classical Schools main principle “let the
punishment fit the crime”
Neo-Classical School
- children, lunatic & others were not legally
responsible for their actions
- “let the children & lunatic criminals be
exempted from the punishment
Italian/Positivist School
- apply scientific method
- Cesare Lombroso and his students Raffaele
Garofalo &Enrico Ferri
-August Comte – father of Sociology &
Positivism
Cesare Lombroso (Father of Modern
Criminology)
- Italian criminologist founded the Positive
School
- Theory of Criminal Atavism (criminals manifest
physical anomalies makes them similar Atavistic
Stigmata to our ancestors
- Founder of criminal anthropology -> theory of
born criminals
Raffaele Garofalo
- Italian criminologist & student of Lombroso
- Concept of “criminal” presupposes concept of
“crime”
- he did not accept his teacher’s view
- Moral Anomalies – roots of criminal behavior
xis in psychological equivalents
- Probity (honesty & integrity) & Pity
(compassion for others)
Enrico Ferri
- highly successful lawyer & Italy’s greatest
contemporary forensic actor
- Moral Responsibility – criminals was driven to
commit crime due to economic, social &
political factors
- Italian/Positivist School’s main principle “let
the punishment fit the criminal”
Beccaria’s three (3) principle of punishment
- Swift -> punishment must be swift to be
effective
- Certain -> people must know
- Severe -> enough to outweigh the reward
Biological Perspective
- crime as a product of internal forces
Process Perspective
- crime as a product of socialization/interaction
of a person to another
Conflict Perspective
- crime is based on economic & political forces
- crime is a politically defined concept
Psychological Perspective
- criminal behavior is a product of
“unconscious” forces operating in person’s
mind
Biosocial Theory – thought & behavior have
biological & social bases
*Biochemical Factors
- Hormonal levels
*Neurological Dysfunction
- Minimal Brain Dysfunction
- Learning Disability
* Genetic Influence
- Parent-child similarities
 - Siblings & twins Similarities
- Adoption Studies
Evolutionary Theory – aggression & violent
behavior as adoptive behaviors in human
evolution
Cheater Theory – explains male aggressiveness
R/K – Selection Theory – all organisms can be
located along a continuum
R – oriented people – cunning & deceptive
K – oriented people – cooperative &
sensible to others
Arousal Theory – environmental factors
influence brain's level of arousal
– thrill is a motivator of crime
Life-Course Theory (Developmental Theory) –
criminal behavior is a dynamic process &
antisocial behaviors changes dramatically over a
person’s life span
– Sheldon Glueck & Eleonor
Touroff-Glueck made LCT
Latent-Trait Theory (Developmental Theory) – is
defined as a stable feature, characteristic,
property/condition makes some people
delinquency-prone over the life course
Latent Theorist David Rowe,
Wayne Osgood, and Alan Nicewonder
Juke & Kalikak Family
Somatotyping Theory – associates body
physique to behavior & criminality
Ernst Kretschmer – a German psychiatrist,
neurologist & psychopathologist
* Asthenic – lean, slightly built, narrow
shoulders
* Athletic – medium to tall, strong,
muscular
* Pyknic – medium height, rounded
figure
William H. Sheldon, Jr. – American
psychologist& physician
* Endomorph
* Ectomorph
* Mesomorph
Sheldon Glueck & Eleonor Glueck – Research
Associate in Criminology at Harvard Law School
Ernest Hooton – American Physical
Anthropologist
Physiognomy – phisomine (Middle English),
phisenomie (Anglo-French), physiognomonia,
hysiognomia (Late Latin), physiognomonia
(Greek), physiognomon (Merriam-Webster’s
Dictionary)
Giambattista della Porta (Giovanni Battista Della
Porta) – Italian Physician and Philosopher
– founded the school of physiognomy
(study of facial features and their relation to
human behavior)
Johann Kaspar Lavater revived the work
of Porta
Phrenology – study of the conformation of skull
according to Franz Joseph Gall, Johann Kaspar
Spurzheim, and George Combe
– Johann Kaspar Spurzheim – Gall’s
pupil, research assistant & collaborator led him
to development of his theories concerning brain
localization and phrenology, which he initially
referred to as Cranioscopy
– Gall identified 27 discrete
“centres” of behavior, 25 of which is never been
confirmed to exist
Nature Theory – low intelligence is genetically
determined and inherited
– Henry H. Goddard, William
Healy, and Augusta Bronner
Rational Choice Theory – person will engage in
criminal behavior after weighing the
consequences & benefits of his/her actions
Routine Activity Theory – created by Lawrence
E. Cohen & Marcus K. Felson

Sometimes referred as
lifestyle theory