Classical Theory

The person generally considered responsible for the school of

classical theory on crime is the Italian Cesare Beccaria. In 1764
when he was only 26 years old, he wrote an essay called “On
Crimes and Punishment” which has been proclaimed a
masterpiece and the foundation of the classical school of
criminological thought.
From his essay, four general principles can be identified that embody the classical
doctrine:

1. Equality - All should be treated equally under the law.

2. Liberty - We have the right to be protected from the potential abuses of power by
the state. The law cannot be applied retroactively and there can be no punishment
without law.
3. Utilitarianism – Because the major goal of the sovereign should be the greatest
happiness for the greatest number, justice should entail utility rather than retaliation
and retribution.
Punishment should be viewed as a deterrent. Deterrence will be ensured by three
basic conditions:
i. Certainty of punishment

ii. Swiftness of justice

iii. Severity of punishment.

4. Humanitarianism – Punishment should not only be fair but humane.

Neoclassical Theory

Neoclassical theory can be thought of as a ‘just desserts’ model.

While endorsing the major principles of classical theory, the neoclassical

perspective entails two major exceptions:
1. Rejection of the rigidity of the classical system of punishment
2. A degree of subjectivity, or discretion, when assessing criminal
responsibility.
3. Consideration of mitigating circumstances

Neoclassical perspective assumes that individuals choose to commit

crime after calculation whether crime’s potential rewards outweigh its
potential risks.

The plea bargain is characteristic of a neoclassical approach.

Positivist Theory

In criminology, the positivist perspective was first embraced by the “holy

three of criminology”: Cesare Lombroso (1835 – 1909), Raffaelo Garofalo
(1852 – 1934), and Enrico Ferri (1856 – 1929), but it was Lombroso’s ideas
that had the greatest influence.

Lombroso developed a biological deterministic theory of criminality based

on the concept of atavism, a biological condition that allegedly renders the
recipient incapable of living within the social norms of a society. He thought
people with atavism had physical malformations such as an asymmetric
face, excessive jaw, eye defects, large nose, large ears, receding forehead,
long arms, and swollen lips to name a few. He believed that the cause of
these physical anomalies could be inherited or indirectly revealed because of
insanity, syphilis, epilepsy, or alcoholism. Lombroso believed the idea that
being a criminal is genetic and that we could separate the criminals from the
non-criminals.
Emerging Theories

Routine Activities Theory – Views crime as a predictable

function of normal activities of daily living. Target suitability is
identified based on their lack of guardianship.

Social Conflict-Based Theories – An approach that is based on

the premise that people are more different than they are alike.
The conflict over differences can evolve around issues of power,
money, and control.

General Theory of Crime – Asserts criminal behaviour is a

product of defective socialization processes that make it
difficult for a potential offender to exercised self-control.
Freudian Theory

A quick reminder of Freud’s three levels of consciousness, the id, ego, and
superego, is necessary first:

Id – Also known as the “pleasure principle”, the id consists of the basic

unconscious biological urges and desires for immediate gratification and
satisfaction. It includes desires for food, sex, and survival.

Ego – The “I” or “reality principle,” it represents an adaptive outgrowth of

our id. Based on early childhood experiences, the ego learns to act as a
control mechanism of sorts; leaning to weigh the consequences of acting on
the impulses of the id within the limitations of society.

Superego – The superego, a sort of “psychic police officer,” develops from

the relationship between our early life experiences and the moral value of
our parents and the community. The development of the superego is and
indicator of our socialization process.

.
Freud proposed that much deviance resulted from an excessive
sense of guilt as a result of an overdeveloped superego. Persons
with overdeveloped superegos feel guilty for no reason and wish
to be punished in order to relieve this guilt they are feeling and
committing crimes is a method of obtaining such desired
punishment and relieving guilt. In effect, a person commits the
crime so that they can get punished and thus relieve guilt – the
guilt comes before the crime. According to this view, crime is
not the result of a criminal personality, but of a poorly
integrated psyche.
Neo-Freudian Theory

The basic distinction between Freud’s original work and that of his
followers is in the role assigned to the id, ego, and superego. Freud, as you
have just read, thought that the desire for punishment was the result of an
overly powerful superego. The neo-Freudians, on the other hand, believed
that crime was the result of a too-powerful id.

• The desire for immediate gratification.

• Placing greater desire on one’s personal desires over the ability to have
good relationships with other people.
• A lack of guilt over one’s actions.

Aichorn assumed that people with damaged or very weak egos might
become so dominated by the id that they cannot conform to social rules and
will end up committing crimes. These crimes may provide them with a
method of achieving self-esteem and other requirements that cannot by
readily met otherwise and the crimes allow failure to be rationalized as
having been caused by the acts of the mainstream society.
Social Learning Theory

According to Albert Bandura’s theory, delinquent and criminal behaviour is learned

via the same psychological processes as any other behaviour: through learned and
repeated exposure to rewards (reinforcements) that support the behaviour. On the
flip side, behaviours that received no support or negative reactions are not learned
and therefore will not recur.
eople observe others’ behaviors and decide whether or not to adopt them.
Influencing a person’s choice to adopt or not adopt a behaviour are a few factors:

1. Modeling (Observational Learning) – Learning based on observation. The

observer copies behaviour they identify with.

2. Response Stimulation – Basically like a “monkey see, monkey do” concept.

Behaviour is basically copied from what is seen (different from modeling because
they do not necessarily have to identify with the behaviour).

3. How the Model is Seen - How we view a model affects our attitude. If we
admire or respect someone and see their conduct pay off, we are more likely to
emulate them. We tend to identify with winners, not losers.
Important criminological
theories
 Rational choice theory: People generally act in their self-interest and make
decisions to commit crime after weighing the potential risks (including
getting caught and punished) against the rewards.
 Social disorganization theory: A person’s physical and social environments
are primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that person makes. In
particular, a neighborhood that has fraying social structures is more likely to
have high crime rates. Such a neighborhood may have poor schools, vacant
and vandalized buildings, high unemployment, and a mix of commercial and
residential property.
 Strain theory: Most people have similar aspirations, but they don’t all have
the same opportunities or abilities. When people fail to achieve society’s
expectations through approved means such as hard work and delayed
gratification, they may attempt to achieve success through crime.
 Social learning theory: People develop motivation to commit
crime and the skills to commit crime through the people they
associate with.
 Social learning theory. ... It states that learning is a cognitive
process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely
through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of
motor reproduction or direct reinforcement.
 It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a
social context and can occur purely through observation or direct
instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct
reinforcement.
 Social control theory: Most people would commit crime if
not for the controls that society places on individuals
through institutions such as schools, workplaces, churches,
and families.
 Labeling theory: People in power decide what acts are
crimes, and the act of labeling someone a criminal is what
makes him a criminal. Once a person is labeled a criminal,
society takes away his opportunities, which may ultimately
lead to more criminal behavior.
Important criminological
theories
 In criminology, differential association is a theory developed by
Edwin Sutherland proposing that through interaction with others,
individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for
criminal behavior.
 The differential association theory is the most talked about of the learning
theories of deviance. This theory focuses on how individuals learn to
become criminals, but does not concern itself with why they become
criminals.
Strain theory is a sociology and criminology theory developed in 1938
by Robert K. Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on
individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American
dream), though they lack the means.
Strain theories state that certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood
of crime. These strains lead to negative emotions, such as frustration and
anger. These emotions create pressure for corrective action, and crime is
one possible response. Crime may be used to reduce or escape from
strain, seek revenge against the source of strain or related targets, or
alleviate negative emotions. For example, individuals experiencing
chronic unemployment may engage in theft or drug selling to obtain
money, seek revenge against the person who fired them, or take illicit
drugs in an effort to feel better.
Important criminological theories
-control theory
Unlike most criminology theories that purport to explain why people
offend, control theory offers the justification for why people obey
rules. Control theory provides an explanation for how behavior conforms to that
which is generally expected in society.
For social control theory, the underlying view of human nature includes the
conception of free will, thereby giving offenders the capacity of choice, and
responsibility for their behavior. As such, social control theory is aligned more
with the classical school of criminology than with positivist or determinist
perspectives.
Thus, social control theory focuses on how the absence of close relationships
with conventional others can free individuals from social constraints, thereby
allowing them to engage in delinquency.
PENOLOGY
 WHAT IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE?
 Restorative Justice is a process through which remorseful offenders
accept responsibility for their misconduct, particularly to their victims
and to the community. It creates obligation to make things right
through proactive involvement of victims, ownership of the offender
of the crime and the community in search for solutions which promote
repair, reconciliation and reassurance. Thus, the restorative justice
process is actively participated in by the victim, the offender, and/or
any individual or community member affected by the crime to resolve
conflicts resulting from the criminal offense, often with the help of a
fair and impartial third party. Examples of restorative process include
mediation, conferencing, sentencing/support circle and the like. The
restorative outcome is the agreement obtained as a product of a
restorative justice process. Examples of restorative outcomes include
restitution, community work service and any other program or
response designed to accomplish reparation of the victim, and the
reintegration of the victims and/or offenders.
HOW WAS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
ADOPTED IN THE PHILIPPINES?

 The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, of

which the Philippines is a member-country, through a draft
resolution, recommended to the Economic and Social Council
of the United Nations Organization (UNO), the adoption of the
“Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice
Programmes in Criminal Matters”. The said document is a
formulation of UN Standard in the field of mediation and
restorative justice. The Philippines, being a signatory member-
country should ensure adoption of this resolution.
WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES OR INTERVENTIONS
WHICH CAN BE AGREED UPON DURING THE
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROCESS?

 A. Restitution
 Restitution is a process upon which the offender accepts
accountability for the financial and/or non-financial losses
he/she may have caused to the victim. Restitution is a
“core” victim’s right which is very crucial in assisting the
redirection of the victim’s life. Part of the conditions of
probation as imposed by the Court is the payment of civil
liability to indemnify the victim of the offender, and to
inculcate to the offender a sense of responsibility and
obligation towards the community.
 Consequently, the probation and parole officer should see
to it that the offender complies with this condition.
 B. Community Work Service
 Community Work Service, whether imposed as a condition of offender’s conditional liberty
or integral part of his treatment plan, should be purposely motivated to make the offender
realize that he/she incurred an obligation to make things right. In its application, the
offender can be subjected to perform work service measures, including, but not limited to
any of the following:
 Mentoring and Intergenerational Service – offenders will develop their nurturing needs
thru caring for other people; example: with senior citizens, with orphanages, or with street
children.
 Economic Development – to link directly with the business project; examples: cleaning
downtown area, tree planting, maintenance of business zones, housing restoration, garbage
and waste management, cleaning of esteros, recycling, construction, repair of streets, and
the like.
 Citizenship and Civic participation-experiential activities which involve solving community
problems; examples: puppet shows that showcase values, street dramas, peer counseling.
 Helping the Disadvantaged – this will enhance offender’s self esteem; examples: assist
handicapped, assist in soup kitchen, tutor peers, visit the aged in jail and hospitals.
 Crime Prevention Project – examples: Brgy. Ronda, giving testimony to the youth.
 C. Counseling (whether individual, group or family)
It will enhance client’s interpersonal relationship and it will help him/her become more aware of his/her
shortcomings/weaknesses. This will also help him/her overcome painful experiences that drove him/her to commit a
crime/ offense.
 D. Attendance to trainings, seminars and lectures
 E. Participation in education, vocation or life skills program
 F. Group Therapy Session
An intervention which provides recovering drug dependents or those with serious behavioral problems an opportunity to
discuss their problems.
 G. Spiritual development session/faith-based session
 H. Submission to psychological/psychiatric assessment
 I . Submission to drug test/drug dependency examination
 J. Attendance to skills training/livelihood assistance program
 K. Marital enhancement program
 L. Written or oral apology
 M. Submission to family therapy session
This session aims to develop healthy personal relationship within the family and to establish open positive communication
between family members and significant others. Family members should be oriented in their individual responsibilities
and roles.
 N. Confinement in Drug Treatment Rehabilitation Center Including Aftercre
 Cold water
 The ordeal of cold water has a precedent in the Code
of Ur-Nammu and the Code of Hammurabi, under which a
man accused of sorcery was to be submerged in a stream
and acquitted if he survived. The practice was also set out
in Frankish law but was abolished by Louis the Pious in
829. The practice reappeared in the Late Middle Ages: in
the Dreieicher Wildbann of 1338, a man accused of
poaching was to be submerged in a barrel three times and
to be considered innocent if he sank, and guilty if he
floated.

 By cross
 The ordeal of the cross was apparently introduced in
the Early Middle Ages in an attempt to discourage judicial
duels among the Germanic peoples. As with judicial duels,
and unlike most other ordeals, the accuser had to undergo
the ordeal together with the accused. They stood on either
side of a cross and stretched out their hands horizontally.
The one to first lower his arms lost. This ordeal was
prescribed by Charlemagne in 779 and again in 806. A
capitulary of Louis the Pious in 819 and a decree of Lothar
I, recorded in 876, abolished the ordeal so as to avoid the
mockery of Christ.
OLD FORMS OF PUNISHMENT
-TRIAL BY ORDEAL

 Trial by ordeal
 Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt
or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a
painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. The test
was one of life or death, and the proof of innocence was survival. In some
cases, the accused was considered innocent if they escaped injury or if
their injuries healed.

 In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, trial by ordeal was considered a

judicium Dei (Latin:"judgement of God"): a procedure based on the
premise that God would help the innocent by performing a miracle on his
behalf. The practice has much earlier roots, attested to as far back as the
Code of Hammurabi and the Code of Ur-Nammu.
 By boiling oil
 Trial by boiling oil has been practiced in
villages in India and in certain parts of West Africa.
There are two main alternatives of this trial. In one
version, the accused parties are ordered to retrieve
an item from a container of boiling oil, with those
who refuse the task being found guilty.
 In the other version of the trial, both the
accused and the accuser have to retrieve an item
from boiling oil,
History Of Imprisonment
 The original purpose of confining a person within a prison
was not to punish them, but was a means of keeping the
perpetrator of a crime detained until the actual punishment
could be carried out. This was usually in the form of corporal
punishment that was intended to cause the guilty person pain,
such as being beaten with a whip, or capital punishment
which used a variety of methods to claim the lives of
condemned individuals.
 London is known as the birthplace of modern imprisonment.
A Philosopher named Jeremy Bentham was against the
death penalty and thus created a concept for a prison that
would be used to hold prisoners as a form of punishment.
 By the 19th century, prisons were being built for the sole purpose
of housing inmates. They were intended to deter people from
committing crimes. People who were found guilty of various
crimes would be sent to these penitentiaries and stripped of their
personal freedoms. Inmates were often forced to do hard labor
while they were incarcerated and to live in very harsh conditions.
Before long, one of the goals of a prison sentence became the
rehabilitation of inmates.
 C. Four Classes of Prisoners
 1. Insular or national prisoner – one who is sentenced to a
prison term of three years and one day to death;
 2. Provincial prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison
term of six months and one day to three years;
 3. City prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison term of
one day to three years; and
 4. Municipal Prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison
term of one day to six months
. D. Three Types of Detainees
 1. Those undergoing investigation;
 2. those awaiting or undergoing trial;
 those awaiting final judgment.
 Uniform Dress Code
 Determination of the security category under which a
prisoner falls is by the color of his prison uniform,
which is as follows:
 Maximum security: Tangerine
 Medium Security: Blue
 Minimum security: Brown
 Detainee: Gray
Maximum security
 Maximum Security – This includes highly dangerous or high security risk
inmates as determined by the Classification Board. Under this category
belong:
 Those sentenced to death
 Those whose minimum sentence is twenty (20) years.
 Remand prisoners whose sentence is twenty years and above and those
whose sentences are under review by the Supreme Court or the Court of
Appeals
 Those with pending cases
 Recidivists, habitual delinquents and escapees
 Those confined at the Reception and Diagnostic Center
 Those under disciplinary punishment or safekeeping
 Those who are certified as criminally insane or those with severe personality
or emotional disorders.
Medium security
 Those who are below twenty years
 Those who are 18 years of age and below, regardless of the case and
sentence
 Those who have two (2) or more records of escape, if they have
served eight (8) years since they were recommitted. Those with one
record of escape must have served five years to be reclassified to
medium security
 First offenders sentenced to life imprisonment, if they have served
five (5) years in maximum security. It does not include those who
have served in local jails by way of detention.
 Minimum Security – Those reasonably trusted to serve their
penalty under less restricted conditions. It includes the
following:
 Those with severe physical handicap, as certified by the
Chief Medical Officer of the institution.
 Those who are 65 years old and above who are without a
pending case and whose convictions are not on appeal
 Those who have served one-half of their minimum sentence
or one-third of their maximum sentence, excluding Good
Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA)
 Those who have only six (6) months more to serve before the
expiration of their maximum sentence.
 RA 10592
 "ART. 97. Allowance for good conduct. – The good conduct of any offender qualified for credit for
preventive imprisonment pursuant to Article 29 of this Code, or of any convicted prisoner in any penal
institution, rehabilitation or detention center or any other local jail shall entitle him to the following
deductions from the period of his sentence:

 "1. During the first two years of imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction of twenty days for each
month of good behavior during detention;

 "2. During the third to the fifth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a reduction of
twenty-three days for each month of good behavior during detention;

 "3. During the following years until the tenth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a
deduction of twenty-five days for each month of good behavior during detention;

 "4. During the eleventh and successive years of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction of
thirty days for each month of good behavior during detention; and

 "5. At any time during the period of imprisonment, he shall be allowed another deduction of fifteen days,
in addition to numbers one to four hereof, for each month of study, teaching or mentoring service time
rendered.