Classic - BECCARIA AND BENTHAM

crime, rationality and justice

QUOTE Carrabine et al 2020

“The classical school emerged as part of the Enlightenment, rejecting cruel and arbitrary systems of punishment”

Enlightenment thinkers- what did they think?

• rejected systems of punishment that relied on cruelty

• argued that individuals are rational beings who make conscious choices about their actions

• punishment was not seen as divine retribution

• highlight how laws should be fair, public and equal to all citizens

CARRABINE ET AL QUOTE 

“Punishments should fit the crime and be sufficient to outweigh the advantage of the offence”

BECCARIAS CORE PRINCIPLES..

• punishment should be certain, swift and proportionate to the crime committed

• punishment should occur soon after the offence to strengthen the link between action and consequence

• proportionality is key to avoid cruelty and leniency 

MOCCIA 2014 QUOTE

“Contemporary penal systems have betrayed Beccaria’s rationalism, replacing reason with moral outrage”

Bentham’s utilitarianism

• all actions should maximise happiness and minimise suffering 

• made the study of crime more systematic, focusing on measurable costs and benefits

• introduced concept of ‘hedonistic calculus’, suggesting that people weigh pleasure and pain before deciding how to act

• marked a shift from moral reform towards a more practical understanding of human behaviour 

BENTHAM’S HEDONISTIC CALCULUS

• believed that all human behaviour results from the desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain 

• when pleasure of committing a crime outweighs the expected pain of punishment, more likely to offend 

• justice system = punishment certain and unpleasant enough to deter 

• critics argue Bentham’s model reduces human decision 

THE PANOPTICON - what Bentham designed

• designed a circular prison where one central observer could watch all prisoners without being seen

• intended to make prisoners regulate their own behaviour- they never knew they were being observed

• this design symbolised Bentham’s belief that constant surveillance could achieve social order more efficiently than brute force

DETTERRENCE IN PRACTICE

• classic theorists believed deterrence works when punishment Is certain, swift and proportionate 

• aims to discourage wider public from offending by making examples of punished offenders

• specific deterrence= fear future punishment 

• empirical evidence is mixed, many offenders act under emotional, social, or economic pressure rather than rational calculation 

NEWBURN 2017

“Punishment deters if it outweighs the anticipated reward”

Beccaria’s enduring tension

• media coverage and moral panics often influence sentencing decisions more than objective reasoning

• tension reveals that even modern justice cannot escape the pull of social and emotional forces

• beccaria’s legacy endures precisely because this conflict remains unresolved 

CARRABINE ET AL 2020= criticisms

“ignores differences in power, status, and circumstances”

CRITICISMS OF THE CLASSICAL MODEL

• the theory overlooks psychological, economic, and environmental factors that influence criminal behaviour 

• only focusing on law and punishment, it fails to address why people offend in the first place

• approach is more of a theory of justice than a theory of crime

• criticisms led to the development of positivism, which sought to identify the causes of criminal behaviour scientifically 

NEWBURN 2017- legacy of classical thought

“despite its limitations, classical thinking remains central to criminal law”

LEGACY OF CLASSICAL THOUGHT

• proportionality and equality before law stem directly from classical thought

• underpin modern deterrence based approaches- Rational Choice Theory and Routine Activity Theory 

• assume that offenders are decision-makers responding to risk and opportunity 

• appears in modern risk management and crime prevention design 

BECCARIA 1764 QUOTE

“punishment must be guided by reason, not vengeance”