Criminology Chapter 03 Homework Beccaria's Ideas The Death Penalty Beccaria Provided

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Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2021

Lecture Notes

Chapter 3: The Classical School of Criminological Thought

Learning Objectives

3.1 Identify the early theories as to why individuals have committed violent and other deviant

acts for most of human civilization.

3.2 Summarize how the Age of Enlightenment drastically altered the theories of how and why

individuals commit crimes, as well as how it changed criminal justice policies.

3.4 Explain what the Neoclassical School of criminology contributed to the propositions of the

3.5 Discuss why the Classical School explanation of crime fell out of favor in the late 19th

century.

3.6 Summarize the impact that the Classical/Neoclassical perspective had on modern criminal

justice systems, and identify some of the policy implications that have been implemented based

on this theoretical framework.

Chapter Outline

I. Introduction

i. This chapter deals with the various issues and factors that go into

offenders’ decision-making about committing crime.

ii. Deterrence theory: Theory of crime associated with the Classical School;

proposes that individuals will make rational decisions regarding their

behavior.

II. Pre-Classical Perspectives of Crime and Punishment

Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2021

i. For the vast majority of human civilization’s history, people believed that

criminal activity was caused by either supernatural or religious factors.

A. Punishments Under Pre-Classical Perspectives

i. During the Middle Ages (Dark Ages), common punishments included

beheading, torturing, burning alive at the stake, drowning, stoning and

quartering.

III. The Age of Enlightenment

i. Thomas Hobbes, in his book Leviathan (1651), proposed a rational theory

for why people are motivated to form democratic states of governance.

ii. Hobbes proposed a number of extraordinary ideas that came to define the

Age of Enlightenment.

iii. Hobbes declared that human beings are rational beings who choose their

destiny by creating a society.

iv. Hobbes further proposed that individuals in such societies democratically

IV. The Classical School of Criminology

i. The more specific and well-known origin of the Classical School is

considered to be the 1764 publication of On Crimes and Punishments by

Italian scholar Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di Beccaria (1738–1794),

commonly known as Cesare Beccaria.

ii. Because of his significant work, most experts consider Beccaria not only

the Father of Criminal Justice and the Father of the Classical School of

Criminology but, perhaps most important, the Father of Deterrence Theory.

Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2021

B. Influences on Beccaria and His Writings

i. The Enlightenment philosophy is readily evident in Beccaria’s writing, and

he incorporates many of the philosophers’ assumptions into his work.

C. Beccaria’s Proposed Reforms and Ideas of Justice

i. As Beccaria claimed, “The true measure of crimes is namely the harm done

to society” (i.e., to the social contract).

ii. Beccaria was very clear that for a given act, a particular punishment should

be administered as established by law, regardless of the contextual

circumstances.

D. Beccaria’s Ideas of the Death Penalty

i. Beccaria provided several rational reasons for why he felt the death penalty

was not an efficient and effective punishment.

ii. First, Beccaria claimed that the use of capital punishment inherently

violated the social contract.

E. Beccaria’s Concept of Deterrence and the Three Key Elements of Punishment

i. Beccaria claimed that three characteristics of punishment make a

significant difference in whether an individual will commit a criminal act—

in other words, they deter crime.

ii. These vital deterrent characteristics of punishment include celerity

(swiftness), certainty, and severity.

a. Swiftness of Punishment.

Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2021

i. Assumption that the faster punishment occurs after

a crime is committed, the more an individual will be

deterred in the future.

b. Certainty of punishment.

i. One of the key elements of deterrence; the

assumption that when people commit a crime, they

will perceive a high likelihood of being caught and

punished.

c. Severity of Punishment.

i. Severity of Punishment: The Assumption that a

penalty must be sufficiently severe to outweigh any

future advantages derived from a crime.

F. Beccaria’s Conceptualization of Specific and General Deterrence

i. He also developed the concepts of two identifiable forms of deterrence:

Specific deterrence and general deterrence.

ii. Specific deterrence: Punishments given to an individual meant to prevent

G. Summary of Beccaria’s Ideas and Influence on Policy

i. Beccaria summarized his ideas on reforms and deterrence with this

statement: In order for punishment not to be, in every instance, an act of

violence of one or of many against a private citizen, it must be essentially

public, prompt, necessary, the least possible in the given circumstances,

proportionate to the crimes, dictated by the laws.

V. Impact of Beccaria’s Work on Other Theorists

Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2021

i. Beccaria’s work had an immediate impact on the political and

philosophical state of affairs in the late 18th century.

iii. It is apparent that the many documents constructed before and during the

time of the American Revolution in the late 1700s were heavily influenced

by Beccaria and other Enlightenment philosophers.

iv. Beccaria’s work has had a profound impact on the philosophy and

workings of the justice systems in most countries throughout the world.

A. Jeremy Bentham

i. One of the more notable theorists inspired by Beccaria’s ideas was Jeremy

Bentham (1748–1832) of England.

ii. One of Bentham’s more important contributions was the concept of

VI. The Neoclassical School of Criminology

i. Neoclassical School: Assumes that aggravating and mitigating

circumstances should be taken into account for purposes of sentencing and

punishing an offender.

ii. It is an important caveat to the previously important Classical School.

iii. The model used by all Western societies in their justice systems.

VII. The Decline of Classical/Neoclassical Theory

i. The Classical/Neoclassical framework lost dominance among academics

and scientists in the 19th century, especially after Charles Darwin’s

publication of The Origin of Species in the 1860s, a book that introduced

VIII. Policy Implications

i. The Classical/Neoclassical perspective fell out of favor with researchers

and academics over the past 150 years, it remains the primary model in

Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2021