The Search for the Criminal Man

THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINAL MAN

INTRODUCTION

  • The quest to understand criminal behavior is inherently difficult due to various complexities.

  • Theoretical frameworks significantly influence policy and practice within the criminal justice system, which can act as a double-edged sword.

  • The social context plays a crucial role in understanding crime.

    • Components of Social Context:

    • Perceptions and interpretations of past and present events.

    • Predictions of future crime patterns based on these perceptions.

CRIMEWARPS (1987)

  • The term refers to the bends in contemporary trends that will affect future societal living conditions.

  • Understanding criminological theory necessitates a comprehension of its social context.

  • Represents significant social transformations affecting crime interpretations and policies.

EARLY THEORIES OF CRIMINOLOGY

  • Historical theories tended to focus on crime as an individual issue.

    • Notable Early Theories:

    • Spiritualism and Demonology

      • Emphasized the conflict between absolute good and evil.

      • Individuals committing crimes were labeled as sinful demons.

      • Methods for resolving conflicts:

      • Trial by battle.

      • Trial by ordeal.

      • Compurgation.

      • Creation of penitentiaries as places for repentance.

      • Limitation: Cannot be scientifically tested or empirically validated.

    • Naturalism

      • Critique of spiritualism's lack of empirical testability.

      • Focused on the physical reality and observable facts.

      • Hippocrates: Identified the brain as the organ of the mind.

      • Concept of dualism between mind and body.

THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY

  • A defining feature is the emphasis on the individual criminal's capabilities for rational thinking.

  • Key Principles:

    • Individuals are guided by a pain and pleasure principle, calculating risks versus rewards.

    • Punishment should correspond with the offense.

    • Forms the foundation of the U.S. legal system.

About Cesare Beccaria

  • An Italian mathematician and economist, known for his seminal work "On Crimes and Punishment".

  • Context: The criminal justice system of his time lacked protections and often imposed severe penalties upon conviction.

Beccaria’s Arguments

  1. Society agrees to relinquish some liberties to avoid chaos, forming a contractual society.

  2. Criminal laws should not overly restrict individual freedoms.

  3. Presumption of innocence should be the core principle in justice administration.

  4. Criminal law must be clearly defined, writing all offenses and punishments in advance.

  5. Punishment should be retributive, as criminals infringe on others' rights.

  6. Punishment severity should be limited to what is necessary for prevention and deterrence.

  7. Punishment must correspond to the seriousness of the crime, not the character of the criminal.

  8. Punishments should be certain and executed swiftly.

  9. The function of punishment should not serve as a societal example nor focus on offender reform.

  10. Offenders are rational beings who consider consequences before committing crimes.

  11. The ultimate goal of legislation is crime prevention.

Jeremy Bentham

  • Advocated that punishment should act as a deterrent.

  • Behavior is seen as a product of free will and a hedonistic calculus:

    • Calculating pains and pleasures associated with actions.

  • Seven Hedonistic Factors:

    1. Intensity

    2. Duration

    3. Certainty

    4. Propinquity

    5. Fecundity

    6. Purity

    7. Extent

INFLUENCE OF EARLY SCHOLARS

  • Early scholars influenced legal codes and societal revolutions.

  • Emphasis on equal treatment and fairness across society.

CRITIQUES OF THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL

  • Criticism arose claiming that hedonism cannot fully explain all criminal behavior.

  • Came to acknowledge the significance of social circumstances in understanding crime causation.

THE POSITIVIST SCHOOL: CRIMINAL AS DETERMINED

  • A crucial distinction from the Classical School is the search for empirical evidence in explaining criminal behavior.

  • Early Positivists analyzed the individual in terms of both mind and body.

CESARE LOMBROSO (1835-1909)

  • Known as the father of modern criminology; an army physician.

  • Studied 3,000 soldiers and noted biological and evolutionary traits.

  • Authored "On Criminal Man" (1876), claiming criminals differ biologically from non-criminals, often termed as atavistic beings.

  • Four Categories of Criminals:

    1. Born criminals

    2. Insane criminals

    3. Criminaloids/Occasional criminals

    4. Criminals of passion

  • Contribution: Shifted focus to biological and hereditary factors in crime.

OTHER BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

  • Kaspar Lavater: Explored the link between facial features and criminal tendencies.

  • Phrenology: The shape of the head as a predictor of personal characteristics (Franz Joseph Gall).

ENRICO FERRI (1856-1929) & RAFFAELE GAROFALO (1852-1934)

  • Ferri argued for a theoretical perspective on crime akin to social Darwinism.

  • Identified acts of absolute evil against basic sentiments: probity and pity.

    • Four Classes of Criminals:

    1. Murderers

    2. Violent criminals

    3. Thieves

    4. Cynics/Sexual criminals

  • Ferri developed the Theory of Imputability, denying free will and emphasizing societal factors in crime.

  • Six Classes of Criminals:

    1. Born/instinctive criminals

    2. Insane criminals

    3. Passion criminals

    4. Occasional criminals

    5. Habitual criminals

    6. Involuntary criminals.

GORING

  • Aimed to address methodological issues faced by earlier positivists.

  • Conducted a study of 3,000 convicts compared with a control group of non-convict men.

OTHER INDIVIDUAL THEORIES OF CRIME

  • Kretschmer’s Four Body Types:

    1. Asthenic

    2. Athletic

    3. Pyknic

    4. Mixed class

  • Found that:

    • Pyknics were more frequently convicted for fraud, violence, or sexual offenses.

    • Asthenics and athletics were associated with convictions for burglary, robbery, or larceny.

  • Ernest Hooten: Studied 17,000 criminals and non-criminals, concluding that criminals exhibit inferior physical measurement traits compared to the general population.

WILLIAM SHELDON

  • Shifted the focus from adults to delinquent youth.

  • Studied 200 boys and young men (ages 15-21) using an Index to Delinquency Score.

  • Identified three physique types:

    1. Endomorph

    2. Mesomorph

    3. Ectomorph

  • In collaboration with Glueck (1949-1950), found that delinquents possessed distinct physical traits such as narrower faces and wider upper bodies compared to non-delinquent peers.

PSYCHOGENICS

  • Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis: Emphasizes the role of the unconscious in behavior.

  • Concepts include:

    • Id

    • Ego

    • Superego

    • Crime arises from tensions within these psychological constructs, notably when the ego or superego fail to develop.

  • Inherited Personality Traits:

    • Conditions such as feeblemindedness, insanity, and dull-wittedness can predispose individuals to crime.

  • IQ consideration: IQ tests were utilized to assess intelligence, correlating mental age with IQ scores.

CONTROL OF THE BIOLOGICAL CRIMINAL

  1. Social Darwinists promoted allowing nature to take its natural course.

  2. Emphasized incapacitation as a means to prevent crime from born criminals.

  3. Rehabilitation efforts were predicated on treating offenders as biological entities requiring medical intervention, leading to principles of Eugenics.

  4. In Buck v. Bell (1927), a ruling permitted the sterilization of individuals deemed feebleminded, exemplifying eugenics principles in legal contexts.