1st QUIZ (PRELIM: CHAPTER 4,5&6)

LESSON 4: FORMULA OF CRIME CAUSATION

CRIME – is a generic term which may be referred to as felony, offense, and
misdemeanor.
➢ In Biblical point of view crime is a SIN.
➢ “all crime are sin, but not all sins are crimes.”
FELONY– punishable by the revised penal code (RPC).
OFFENSE - punishable by the special law.
MISDEMEANOR – when it is violated an ordinance.
CONCEPTS:
➢ The Normality of Crime (David Emile Durkheim)
➢ Criminality is a normal factor rather than a pathological one.
➢ Crime is not only normal for society, but it is necessary.
➢ Without crime there could be no evolution in law.
➢ Theory of the Etiology of Criminal Acts (Dr. David Abrahamsen)
➢ Crime is the product of the individuals’ tendencies and the situation of the
moment interacting with his mental resistance.
➢ C(crime), T(tendencies), S(situation), R(resistance)

C (the crime) = T (criminal tendency) + S (total situation)

R (resistance to temptations

LESSON 5: THE FUNDAMENTALS SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN EXPLAINING THE

CAUSES OF CRIME.
THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL (18th century)
➢ Attempt to reform the legal system and to protect the accused against harsh and
arbitrary action on the part of the state.
➢ Classical school is Founded by Cesare Beccaria or Cesare Marchese Di Beccaria
Bonesana (1738-1794)
- Italian Criminologist and Economist
- He opposes the barbaric and arbitrary practices in England during his time.
- Main notion- “it is better to prevent crimes than to punish them”.
➢ Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
- English philosopher, Economist, and theoretical jurist.
- His principle is Utilitarianism “mankind was governed by two sovereign
motives, PAIN and PLEASURE”.
- Hedonistic Calculus/Felicity involved weighing of PLEASURE versus PAIN.
- FREEWILL- allowed people to make calculated and deliberate decisions
related to the pursuit of their own HAPPINESS.
- The object of all Legislation must be: “greatest happiness of the greatest
number”.
- Doctrine of NULLUM CRIMEN SINE LEGE “no crime without a law”
➢ “LET THE PUNISHMENT FIT THE CRIME”
THE NEO-CLASSICAL SCHOOL (Modified in the 1800s)
➢ It arouses during French Revolution with the modification that children, lunatics,
and others were not legally responsible for their actions.
➢ It questioned that there are people who have the absence of freewill (they do
not know what they are doing; product of insanity).
➢ Pioneer series article on Isaac Ray, Charles Doe, and Henry Maudsey dealt
with the issue on legal versus psychological responsibility.
➢ “LET THE CHILDREN AND LUNATIC CRIMINALS BE EXEMPTED FROM
PUNISHMENTS”.
THE ITALIAN OR POSITIVIST SCHOOL (19TH century)
➢ Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)
- He founded the Italian or positivist school.
- Father of Criminology
- He uses the Theory of Criminal Atavism (criminals manifest physical
anomalies that make them biologically and psychologically like our ancestor”.
- Founder of Criminal Anthropology “theory of born criminals.”
- “Punishment should be replaced by a scientific treatment of criminals
calculated to protect society.”
➢ Raffaele Garofalo (1851-1934)
- “moral anomalies”-roots of criminal behavior not in the individual’s physical
feature but to their psychological equivalents.
- He define crime not as a violation of a law but a violation of nature.
- Two forms that violates human nature: PROBITY (honesty and integrity)
and PITY (compassion for others).
➢ Enrico Ferri (1856-1929)
- He was the greatest contemporary forensic orator.
- Crime must be studied.
- “A person is legally or socially responsible for his actions by the fact that he is
a member of society, not because he is capable of willing an illegal act.
- “a man was sentenced, not according to the seriousness of the offense, but
according to the factors which motivated him to commit a crime.”
- Criminals are driven to commit crime due to: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, and
POLITICAL factors (moral responsibility)
➢ “LET THE PUNISHMENT FIT THE CRIMINAL”.

LESSON 6: PERSPECTIVES OF CRIME CAUSATION

CONCEPTS:
➢ CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE
- Crime as the product of Situational forces
- Crime is a function of freewill and personal choice.
- Three principles of punishments: SWIFT (punishments should be swift to be
effective, CERTAIN (they will be punished for their illegal behavior and no
substitute for the punishment), SEVERE (punishments must outweigh the
reward of the illegal actions)
➢ BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
- Crime is the product of Internal forces (individual person itself).
 - Crime is the function of chemical, neurological, generic, personality,
intelligence, or mental traits.
➢ PROCESS PERSPECTIVE
- Crime is the product of Socialization or Interaction of one person to
another.
- Crime is the function of upbringing, learning, and control.
- Parents, teachers, environment, mass media, and peer group may influence
behavior.
➢ CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
- Crime is based on Economic and Political forces.
- Crime is a function of competition for limited resources and power.
➢ BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
- It sought to explain the onset of antisocial behavior such as aggression
and violence by focusing on the physical qualities of the offenders.
- Three areas of focus: BIOCHEMICAL (diet, generic, hormones…),
NUEROLOGICAL (brain damage), GRNERIC (inheritance).
➢ PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
- Crime is the product of Unconscious forces operating within a person’s
mind.
- Some aggression can “leak out” of the unconscious that a person might
engaged with random acts of violence.