Criminology Introduction and Schools of Thought

Flashcards covering the foundational definitions, key historical figures, schools of thought, and various approaches to the study of criminology as a social phenomenon.

Criminology

Derived from the Latin root word ‐Crimen‐ meaning Offense and ‐logos‐ or ‐logia‐ meaning study; it is the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon.

Three Scopes of Criminology

1st: the making of laws; 2nd: the breaking of laws; 3rd: the reaction of society towards the breaking of laws, as defined by Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey in 1934.

Raffaele Garofalo (1885)

An Italian nobleman and professor who introduced the term Criminologia and argued that punishment should fit the criminal rather than the crime.

Paul Topinard (1887)

A French scholar who introduced the term Criminologie.

Sociology of Law

A principal division of criminology involving the scientific analysis of the conditions under which criminal law influences society.

Criminal Etiology

A principal division of criminology consisting of the scientific analysis and study of the causes or reasons for crime.

Penology

A division of criminology concerned with the control of crime and repressing criminal activities through the fear of punishment.

Criminalistics

The division of criminology concerned with the collection, identification, and recognition of physical evidence at the crime scene.

Cesare Lombroso

Known as the ‐Father of Criminology‐ and the ‐Founder of the Criminal Anthropology,‐ he proposed the Theory of Born Criminal.

Atavistic Stigma

Physical features of creatures at an earlier stage of development used to distinguish criminals as a lower form of life nearer to apelike ancestors.

Moral Anomalies

Raffaele Garofalo's term for the psychological equivalents of physical features that trace the roots of criminal behavior.

Enrico Ferri

Lombroso’s associate who argued that criminals are driven to commit crimes due to economic, social, and political factors rather than free will.

Theory (Freda Adler)

A statement that explains the relationship between abstract concepts in a meaningful way, based on facts, observations, research, and repeated testing.

Speculative Stage

The first stage of theory development which is an attempt to explain what is happening.

Descriptive Stage

The second stage of theory development which gathers data to describe what is really happening.

Constructive Stage

The third stage of theory development which revises old theories and develops new ones based on continuing research.

Classical School

Founded by Cesare Beccaria, it posits that people have free will and choose to commit crime, suggesting punishment should be fair and fit the crime.

Neo-Classical School

Suggests that free will exists but factors like age, mental illness, or special circumstances should be considered by courts when deciding punishment.

Positivist School

Founded by Cesare Lombroso, it views crime as caused by biological, psychological, and social factors, focusing on treatment and rehabilitation.

Nullum crimen sine lege

A fundamental legal principle meaning ‐no crime without law.‐

The Revised Penal Code (Act no. 3815)

The primary source of Philippine Criminal Law along with its amendments and Special Penal Laws.

Biological Approach (Existence of Crime)

The belief that criminal behavior is inherited or identified through the physical characteristics of criminals.

Epidemiological Approach

The belief that crime is transmitted within the population.

Victimology

The study of the role of the victim in the crime.

Objective Approach

Explains criminal behavior in terms of factors extraneous to the offender, such as social, sociological, cultural, and economic factors.

Subjective Approach

Explains criminal behavior in terms of internal factors like physical, biological, and mental traits.

Deficient in Probity Approach

Proposed by Dr. Maurice Parmellee, suggesting that criminals lacking probity commit crimes against property.

Eavert A. Hootan

Stated that criminals are organically inferior and described the criminal as an ‐inadequately developed runty fellow.‐

William H. Sheldon

Stated that criminals are typically the ‐husky and athletic type fellow.‐

Schizophrenia (Organic Psychosis)

An abnormality where the individual suffers from split-mindedness.

Physiological Approach

Made by Endocrinologists who found that glandular malfunctioning caused delinquent behavior.

Episodic Crimes

Crimes committed by a series of acts undertaken in a lengthy space of time.

Transitory Crimes

Crimes committed in several places.

White Collar

Crimes committed by persons of respectability.

Crimes of the Upper World

Crimes committed by large-scale syndicates.