WEEK 1

Theory

What is a Theory?
It is any system of ideas arranged in rational order that produces general
principles which increases our understanding and explanations. Ideally a theory should:
• Focus attention on a particular phenomenon
• Fit the known facts about a particular phenomenon
• Contribute to scientific paradigms
• Provide a way it can be tested or falsified
• Establish boundaries and domains by which laws and truth statements can
generalized
• Can be added and compared to other theories

Supernatural and Foundational Theories

Supernatural/ Demonological theory

- It is asserted that a person committed wrongful acts due to the fact that he was
possessed by demons or damned by other worldly forces.
According to this theory individuals were thought to be possessed by good or evil spirits,
which caused good or evil behavior.
- Criminals are possessed by some evil spirit that force them to commit evil deeds.
- A crime is not a product of free will, but rather [it] is determined by forces beyond
the control of an individual i.e. deterministic approach.
- A crime is perceived as a sin, thus a handiwork of the devil/satan.
- There are Godly and satanic forces in the World.

Three types of explanations to the existence of criminal behavior.

1. Single/unitary theory - the crime is caused by only one factor. It may be biological,
sociological or psychological. This theory is no longer used at present.
2. Multiple factor theory- crime is produced by two or more factors
3. Eclectic theory - in one situation, crime resulted by one or more factors while in other
instance, it is caused by another set of factors.

The Pre-Twentieth Century (1738-1798)

In the eighteenth century, criminological literature whether psychological,

sociological, or psychiatric has traditionally been divided into three broad schools of
thought: the classical, neo-classical and the positivists school of criminology.

THREE CRIMINOLOGY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

1. Classical School - this school of thought is composed of group of thinkers who

focused their studies and research on crime and punishment. Advocated by Cesare
Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. Man is a rational being and that he has freewill to
choose between good and evil. Every man is responsible for his act. Maintains that man
is essentially a moral creature with absolute free will to choose between good and evil.

A. the basis of criminal liability is human free will and the purpose of penalty is
retribution.
B. that man is essentially a moral creature with an absolute free will to choose between
good and evil, thereby placing more stress upon the effect or result of the felonious act
than upon the man, the criminal himself.
C. it has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct proportion between crime and
penalty.
D. there is a scant regard to the human element.

The term ‘criminology’ is a misnomer since there was no criminology as we know until
19th century. This school of thought was not studying criminals per se, so it gained
association with criminology through its focus on law making and legal processing
(Williams & Mcshane, 2004). Major principles of the Classical School are the following:
• The punishment should fit the crime
• Human beings are fundamentally rational, and most human behavior is the result
of free will coupled with rational choice.
• Pain and pleasure are the two central determinants of human behavior.
• Punishment, a necessary evil, is sometimes required to deter law violators.
• Society exists to provide benefits to individuals which they would not receive in
isolation.

Prominent members of the Classical School

Cesare, Marquis de Beccaria – Bonesana (1738-1794)

An Italian philosopher and politician best known for his treatise Essay on Crimes
and Punishments (1764) which led to the abolition of death penalty in Grand Duchy of
Tuscany. Beccaria said, man is fundamentally a biological organism with intelligence
and rationality that control his behavior.
-founder of classical school of thought
-asserted the abolition of torture and death penalty as a legitimate means of extracting
confessions.
- published the treatise essay “on crimes and punishments.”(Dei delitti e delle pene,
1764)
Essay on Crimes and Punishments written by Beccaria was widely considered as one of
the founding texts of the Classical School, the reforms contained in the book were the
following:
• Prompt administration of consistent punishments.
• Well-publicized laws made by the legislature rather than individual courts or
judges.
• Abolition of torture in prisons.
• Use of penal system as deterrence rather than punishment.

A. the basis of criminal liability is human free will and the purpose of penalty is
retribution.
B. that man is essentially a moral creature with an absolute free will to choose between
good and evil, thereby placing more stress upon the effect or result of the felonious act
than upon the man, the criminal himself.
C. it has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct proportion between crime and
penalty.
D. there is a scant regard to the human element.

FREEWILL - A philosophy advocating punishment severe enough for people to choose,

to avoid criminal acts

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

An English jurist, philosopher, legal and social reformer. He was an early

advocator of utilitarianism (the greatest good for the greatest number). He also
developed the acclaimed Panopticon prison believed to be the best prison design in the
planet.

Hedonism principle
- a man chooses between pleasure and pain.
- punishment designed to negate pleasure or gain the criminal derives from crime would
reduce the crime.

Panopticon prison (pan-inmates and opticon-to be observed)

“everything” and “place of sight”
- ultimate penitentiary or inspection house.
- A prison that consist of circular building containing multi-cells around the periphery, but
it was never built.
- formulated the utilitarianism, greatest happiness for the greatest number principle
- felicific calculus
“the amount of pleasure and the amount of pain could be calculated, compared and
adjusted so that the punishment would be no more than sufficient and always just.
UTILITARIAN PRINCIPLE - The ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham that all
action should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest
number of people.

Summary points of the Classical School by Bentham

• People have free will to choose how to act and what to do.
• The more swift and certain the punishment the more effective it is in deterring
criminal behavior
• Deterrence is based upon the utilitarian ontological notion because a human
being is any of the following:
o Hedonist – man only seeks pleasure and avoids pain
o Rational calculator - man is weighing up the costs (pains) and benefits
(pleasures) before doing an act

2. The Neo-classical School

The school accepted the concept of absolute freewill as contended by the

Classical School but there are instances where freewill is absent in the commission of
the crime. These are the following:
• Pathology
• Incompetence (children)
• Imbecility and Insanity

- believed that there are situations or circumstances that made it impossible to exercise
free will thus the reason to exempt individual from criminal liability.
- a child or insane who has committed an unlawful act is exempted from suffering any
criminal liability since he does not know the nature and consequences of the acts he
committed.
- in the Philippines this is reflected in article 12, of the RPC.

3. The Positivist or Italian School

The principles on which the classical school was based began to be challenged
by the emergent positivist school in criminology. It is at this point that the term
‘criminology’ first emerged, both in the work of Italian Raffaele Garofalo (criminologia)
in 1885 and in the work of French anthropologist Paul Topinard (criminologie) around
the same time. Positivist criminology assumes that criminal behavior has its own distinct
set of characteristics. Maintained that crime as any other act is a natural phenomenon.
That crime as a social and moral phenomenon which cannot be treated and checked by
the imposition of punishment but rather rehabilitation or the enforcement of individual
measures.

The Trinity of the Positivist School

1. Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909) - an Italian criminologist and founder of Positivist or

Italian School of Thought. His study suggested that a criminal is born with some
physical characteristic as the cause of crime.
- Considered to be the “Father of Modern Criminology”
- Conceptualized ATAVISTIC STIGMATA - physical features of a man at an early stage
of development that resembles that of an ape.

Contributions of Lombroso

a. He rejected the concept of free will by using these concepts:

i. Physiognomy
ii. Psychiatry
iii. Early eugenics
iv. Social Darwinism
b. Lombroso’s theory of Anthropological Criminology stated that criminality is:
i. Inherited
ii. Born criminal could be identified by physical defects which confirmed a criminal
as savage or atavistic

c. He founded Criminal Anthropology and he considered these atavistic characteristics

as throwbacks to Neanderthal man.

Classification of Criminals by Lombroso

1. Born Criminals – there are born criminals according to Lombroso, the belief that
criminal behavior is inherited.
2. Criminal by Passion – are individuals who are easily influenced by emotions like fit of
anger.
3. Insane Criminals are those who commit crime due to abnormalities or psychological
disorders. Lombroso argued that this type of criminal should be exempted from criminal
liability.
4. Criminaloid - those type of criminal who commits crime due to less physical stamina
and self control.
5. Occasional Criminals–those type of criminals who commit crime due to insignificant
reasons that pushed them to do at a given situation.
6. Pseudo-criminals– are those who kill by means of self–defense.

In November 1872, Lombroso performed an autopsy on the body of Giuseppe Villela.

The results of the study lead him to conclude the theory of atavism which contained in
his volume L’uomo Deliquente (Criminal Man). Stigmata indicative of criminal
tendencies are:
1. Deviation in head size and shape form
2. Asymmetry of the face
3. Eye defects and peculiarities
4. Excessive dimensions of the jaw and check bones
5. Ears of unusual size (too small or too big)
6. Nose twisted, upturned, flattened in thieves, aquiline and beak like in murderers
7. Lips fleshy, swollen and protruding
8. 8. Pouches in the cheek like those of some animals
9. Peculiarities in the palate, such as those found un reptiles and cleft palate
10. Chin preceding or excessively long, short or flat
11. Abnormal dentition
12. Abundance, variety and precocity of wrinkles
13. Anomalies of the hair, marked by characterisitcs of the opposite sex
14. Defects of the thorax, multiciplity of nipples, too many or too few number of ribs
15. Excessive length of arms
16. Supernumerary of fingers and toes
Lombroso noted that most women are not criminal, however, they are most often
occasional criminals.

2. Enrico Ferri (1856-1929) - A student of Lombroso argued that criminal behavior

could be explained by studying the interaction of range of factors. He observed these in
relation to crime such as:
Physical Factors
race, geography and temperature
Individual Factors
age, sex and psychological variables
Social Factors
population, religion and culture

Enrico Ferri summarized that:

a. Social as well as biological factors played a role in criminality.

b. Crime could be controlled by improving the social conditions of the poor and to
that end advocated the provision of employment, education, health care and birth
control.

- Although he agreed on the biological bases of criminal behavior, his interest in

socialism led him to recognize the importance of socio economic and political
determinants.
- He believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did not
choose to commit crimes but was driven to commit them by conditions of their lives.

3. Raffaele Garofalo (1852-1934) - An Italian jurist and a student also of Lombroso.

Follower of Lombroso, an Italian nobleman, magistrate, senator and professor of law.
- Rejected the doctrine of freewill and supported the position that the only way to
understand crime was to study it by scientific methods.
- He traced the roots of criminal behavior not to physical features but to their
psychological equivalents, which he called “moral anomalies”.

MORAL ANOMALIES

- Natural crimes are found in all human societies, regardless of the views of the
lawmakers and no civilized society can afford to disregard them.
- Natural crimes, according to Garofalo, are those that offend the basic moral
sentiments of probity(respect for property of others) and piety (revulsion against the
infliction of suffering on others).

His contributions are the ff:

Rejected the concept of free will and supported the claim that crime can be understood
only if studied scientifically.
Crimes committed by any person are violation of two altruistic sentiments
common to people; pity and probity.
He advocated the concept of Natural Crime and known today as Crime Mala
Inse.

Types of Criminals by Garofalo

1. Murderer – refers to a criminal who kills another person and is satisfied by revenge/
vengeance. This totally lacks both pity and probity.
2. Violent Criminal – a criminal that lacks pity and can be influenced by environmental
factors such as the consumption of alcohol.
3. Deficient Criminal – refers to a person who commits crimes against property like
thieves and robbers.
4. Lascivious Criminal – refers to a person who commit crimes against chastity like acts
of lasciviousness, seduction, adultery and the like.