Classical and NeoClassical Criminology

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Classical and Neo-Classical Criminology

• Kelly Cheeseman Dial
• AJ 325

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The Backdrop of Classical Criminology

• The prior church regime/demonology
• Challenge of the aristocracy and reign of church
• Began to examine human nature and social
  conditions
• Rise of the cities and fall of the agricultural
  era
• Classical criminology was created from writings
  about law and society less than from thinking
  about criminal behavior

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Enlightenment Thinking

• Hedonism
• Social contract
• Secularization of Society
• Human Dignity

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FoundersCesare Beccaria 1738-1794

• Wrote On Crimes and Punishments ( 1764)
• Beccaria believed people want to achieve pleasure
  and avoid pain
• Crime and its outcomes provide some pleasure
• Thus to deter crime pain on some level must be
  administered
• What types of pain? Who administers it?

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FoundersJeremy Bentham 1748-1833

• British philosopher who helped popularize
  Beccarias views.
• Believed that punishments are in themselves
  harmful, so what they try to prevent must be more
  evil than the punishment.
• Father of utilitarianism
• Creator of deterrence theory

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Classical Criminology

• Decisions to violate the law are weighed against
  the possible punishment for such a violation
• To deter crime, the pain of punishment must
  outweigh the benefit of illegal gain.

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Assumptions of Human Nature

• Individuals have free will Freedom to make
  personal behavioral choices unencumbered by
  environmental factors such as poverty or
  ideological beliefs
• Individuals maximize utility (i.e., happiness,
  food, resources) by weighing the benefits and
  costs of their future actions before deciding on
  behavior

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Four Utilitarian Objectives of Punishment
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Classic Deterrence Theory

• Primary Purpose of punishment is deterrence
  rather than vengeance
• Severity Punishment must be just severe enough
  to overcome the gain from a crime. Punishment
  that is too severe is unjust, and punishment that
  is not severe enough will not deter
• Without proper proportionality, people will not
  be deterred from committing more serious crimes (
  i.e. if rape and murder were both punished with
  death, a rapist would have little reason to
  refrain from killing the victim

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Classic Deterence Celerity and Certainty

• Celerity swiftness with which criminal sanctions
  are applied after the commission of crime ( where
  does apprehension fit in?)
• Certainty probability of apprehension and
  punishment for a crime.
• If I am caught will they really punish me? ( mere
  threats versus carrying out)

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What is proportionality?

• Rape
• Theft of a cell phone
• Theft of a car
• Killing a husband/mistress when you catch them in
  bed together
• Assault
• People who neglect/abuse those in a nursing home

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Deterrence

• General Deterrence
• Depends on fear of penalties
• Convincing potential offenders that the potential
  pain outweighs the potential benefits

• Specific Deterrence
• Focuses on the individual offender
• Convince him/her not to repeat their criminal
  behavior

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Absolute and Marginal Deterrence

• Absolute Deterrence A particular punishment can
  deter a type of crime completely.
• Marginal Deterrence A relatively more severe
  penalty will produce some reduction in crime
• State vs. informal control

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The Purposes of Punishment

• General Deterrence By punishing the offender we
  hope that others considering committing the same
  crime will not think it worth it
• Specific Deterrence same as above, but with
  respect to that offender themselves, not others
• Incapacitation if the offenders is in jail,
  society is safe
• Retribution offenders deserve punishment as a
  payment to society for their crimes
• Moral Outrage Catharsis and relief for society
• Rehabilitation may provide and opportunity to
  help/change the offender
• Restitution offenders should compensate their
  victims

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Classical Crim. Today

• Are criminals today influenced by a theory that
  is rooted in the 17th/18th century?
• Historically
• Bill of Rights
• Thomas Jefferson desire to end death penalty in
  US
• Prisons
• Punishment fit the crime
• Neo-classical criminology/Rational Choice/Routine
  Activities Theory

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Rebirth of Classical thoughts in the 70s and 80s

• National surveys fail to find rehabilitation
  programs that work end of rehab in 70s
• Thinking About Crime by James Q. Wilson debunks
  view that crime was a function of external forces
• Wilson proposes a forceful reaction to crime,
  otherwise, those sitting on the fence will get
  the idea that crime pays
• get tough on crime

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The Deterrence Hypothesis

• When the certainty, severity, and celerity of
  criminal sanctions are high in a population,
  criminal behavior will be low.
• Should be a significant decrease in violent crime

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Food for thought

• The 5 countries with the highest homicide rates
  that do not impose the death penalty average 21.6
  murders per every 100,000 people.
• The 5 countries with the highest homicide rate
  that do impose the death penalty average 41.6
  murders every 100,000 people.
• States with DP have higher murder rates than
  those without the DP.
• Does this show that deterrence theory does not
  work?

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Rational Choice TheoryBorn out of economics

• Assume individuals desire utility (e.g.
  happiness, wealth, etc.)
• Operating within their means ( or constraints)
  individuals attempt to achieve their desires
  goals)
• The rational Choice is the one that obtains
  desired goals (e.g., the most utility) for the
  lowest cost.

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Benefits

• Material or monetary benefits
• Non-pecuniary benefits ( psychological gains,
  excitement, revenge, sense of accomplishment,
  reputation and honor)

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Costs

• Material costs
• Psychic costs possible feelings of guilt from
  committing crime, shame from friends
• Opportunity costs time that could be spent doing
  something else
• Expected punishment costs ( the main focus of
  deterrence theorists)

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Research indicates that crime pays relatively
little. Then why do so many criminals continue
to commit crime?
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Structuring Crime

• Not only do criminal structure their career but
  they rationally choose
• The type of crime to commit
• Where it occurs
• Who or what will be the target
• The time the crime will be committed

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Routine Activities Theory

• Crime will occur if the following three factors
  interact
• Motivated Offenders
• Suitable targets
• Lack of capable guardians
• theory assumes this will always be

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What are our modern day Routine activities vs.
1950?

• 1950
• Women stayed at home
• Social activities are more home based
• What would people steal?

• 2000
• Many women work outside of home
• Social activities are more often away from home
• What would people steal?

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How do you stop crime according to RAT?

• Target hardening ( suitability)
• Surveillance (guardianship)
• Target removal
• Reducing temptation
• Surveillance by employees
• This is situational crime prevention

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Classical/Neo-classical

• Is this a good or bad theory?
• Does it influence how we view crime and criminal
  justice in America
• Does it answer the 2 basic questions?
• Is it useful?