Introduction to Criminology

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Criminology - the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior and law
enforcement.

3 Main School of Thought

1. Classical school (BENTHAM&BECARRIA) freewill

2. Positivist school (LOMBROSO) sick people
3. Chicago school

Classical school - based on utilitarian philosophy developed in the 18th

century. This school of thoughts argues:

1. That people have free will to choose how to act.

2. Deterrence is based upon the notion of the human being as a
hedonist who seeks pleasure and avoid pain and a rational
calculator weighing up the cost and benefits of the consequences
of each action.
3. Punishment of sufficient severity can deter people from crime as
the cost (penalties) outweigh benefits and that the severity of
punishment should be proportionate to the crime.
4. The more swift and certain the punishment, the more effective it is
in deterring criminal behavior.

Prominent Philosophers of Classical school

1. Cesare Becarria - author of crimes and punishment.

2. Jeremy Bentham - inventor of the panopticon - type of
institutional building designed to allow an observer to observe
inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or
not they are being watched.

Positivist school - presumes that criminal behavior is caused by internal

and external factors outside of the individuals control.
Positivism can be broken in 3 segments which include:
1. Biological
2. Psychological
3. Social - - one of the largest contributors
to biological positivism and founder of
the Italian school of criminology is Cesare
Lombroso.

Italian School

 Cesare Lombroso - an italian doctor and sometimes regarded as

the father of criminology. Considered also as the founder of
criminal anthropology. He suggested that physiological traits such
as the measurement of the checkbones or hairline or a cleft palate,
considered to be throwbacks to neanderthal man, were indicative
of "atavistic criminal tendencies". This approach has been
superseded by the beliefs of Enrico Ferri.
 Enrico Ferri - a student of Lombroso, believe that social as well
as biological factors played a role and held the view that criminals
should not be held responsible when factors causing their
criminality were beyond their control.
 Sociological positivism - suggest that societal factors such as
poverty, membership of subcultures or low levels of education can
predispose people to crime.

1. Adolphe Quetelet - made use of data and statistical analysis to

gain insight into relationship between crime and sociological
factors. He found that age, gender, poverty, education and alcohol
consumption were important factors related to crime.
2. Rawson W. Rawson - utilized crime statistics to suggest a link
between population density and crime rates with crowded cities
creating an environment conducive for crime.
3. Joseph Fletcher and John Glyde - also presented papers to the
statistical society of London on their studies of crime and its
distribution.
4. Henry Mayhew - used empirical methods and an ethnographic
approach to address social questions and poverty.
5. Emile Durkheim - viewed crime as an inevitable aspect of society
with uneven distribution of wealth and other differences among
people.
Chicago school - arose in the early 20th century, through the work of
Robert Park, Ernest Burgess and other urban sociologist at the university
of Chicago. Park and Burgess identified five concentric zones that often
exist as cities grow, including the zone in transition which was identified
as most volatile and subject to disorder.

 Edwin Sutherland - suggested that people learn criminal behavior

from older, more experienced criminals that they may associate
with. (differential association).

2 Main difference between the classical and positivist schools of

criminology
Classical school Positivist school
1.Free will 1. Determinism
2. Philosophy 2. Scientific methods

De minimis - is an addition to a general harm principle. The general harm

principle fails to consider the possibility of other sanctions to prevent
harm, and the effectiveness of criminalization as a chosen option.

Thanatos - a death wish.

Tagging - like labeling, the process whereby an individual is negatively

defined by agencies of justice.

Criminology Consists of 3 Principal Divisions

1. Sociology of Law - which is an attempt at scientific
analysis of the conditions under which criminal law
influences society.
2. Criminal Etiology - which is an attempt at scientific
analysis of the study of causes or reasons for
crime.
3. Penology - concerned with control crime by
repressing criminal activities through the fear of
punishment.

Crime - is a wrong doing classified by the state as a felony or

misdemeanor.

Felony - is a serious crime punishable by at least one year in prison.

Misdemeanor - is a crime for which the punishment is usually a fine

and/or up to one year in jail.
*Crimes are defined and punished by statutes and by
the common law.

Etiology - study of causes and reasons for crime.

Atavism - the view that crime is due to a genetic throwback to a more

primitive and aggressive form of human being.

Elements Necessary For A Crime To Occur

1. Desire or motivation on the part of the criminal.
2. The skills and tools needed to commit the crime.
3. Opportunity.

Spree killer - is someone who embarks on a murderous assault on 2 or

more victims in a short time in multiple locations.

Spree killing - killings at two or more locations with almost no time break
between murders.

Spree murder - two or more murders committed by an offender/offenders

without a cooling off period.

Serial murder - two or more murders committed by an

offender/offenders with a cooling off period.

Mass murderer - are defined by one incident with no distinctive time

period between the murders.

Thrill killing - a premeditated murder committed by a person who is not

necessarily suffering from mental instability and does not derive sexual
satisfaction from killing victims or have anything against them and
sometimes do not know them but instead motivated by the sheer
excitement of the act.

Victimology -studies the nature and cause of victimization.

Psychology - the scientific study of the human mind and its functions.

Psychiatry - the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and

treatment of mental disorders.

Ecology - the environment as it relates to living organisms.

Demography - the branch of sociology that studies the characteristics of

human populations.
Epidemiology - the branch of medical science dealing with the
transmission and control of disease.

Anthropology - the social science that studies the origins and social
relationships of humans.

Impulse - a sudden strong urge or desire to act.

Kleptomania - is an irresistible impulse to steal in the absence of

economic motive.

Prototype - is a standard or typical example.

Pathological - is caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition.

Related Readings: Introduction to Criminology

1. Introduction to Criminology Reviewer 1
2. Penal Management Review Questions 1