Juvenile Delinquency Notes

Two Schools of Thought in Criminology

  • Classical School
  • Positivist School

Classical School of Criminology

  • Developed in the 18th century during the Enlightenment.
  • Response to cruel punishments.
  • Emphasizes free will and rational choice.
  • Criminals rationally choose acts for maximum pleasure and minimum pain.
  • Deterrents should outweigh gains from crime.

Major Principles

  • Humans are rational.
  • Behavior results from free will and rational choice.
  • Pain and pleasure determine behavior.
  • Punishment deters.
  • Rational calculation: Weighing costs and benefits.
  • Hedonism: Pleasure/pain are major determinants.
  • Punishment as deterrence.

Human Rights and Due Process

  • Society respects citizens' rights.
  • Accused presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Theorist: Cesare Beccaria

  • Authored “On Crimes and Punishment.”
  • Advocated for a justice system serving the people.
  • Believed prevention is better than punishment.

Beccaria’s Ideas

  • Laws needed for consistent punishments.
  • Crime prevention relies on:
    • Certainty: Likelihood of punishment.
    • Celerity: Swiftness of punishment.
    • Severity: Degree of pain inflicted.
  • Penalties should be proportionate to the crime.
  • Crime is a rational choice.

"On Crimes and Punishment" Principles

  • Maintain social contract.
  • Legislators create laws.
  • Judges impose punishment according to law.
  • Judges should not interpret laws.
  • Punishment based on pleasure/pain.
  • Punishment based on the act, not the actor.
  • Punishment determined by the crime.
  • Punishment should be prompt/effective.
  • All people treated equally.
  • Abolish capital punishment and torture.
  • Prevention is better than punishment.

Impact of Beccaria's Book

  • Influenced penal codes in Europe, Russia, and the U.S.
  • Philosophy of punishment based on:
    • Degree of injury.
    • Deterrence and prevention.
    • Swift, certain, and proportionate severity.
    • Punishment should reduce crime, not for vengeance.

Elements of Punishment

  • Certainty: Chances of being caught.
  • Celerity: Swiftness of societal response.
  • Severity: Providing enough pain to offset pleasure from the crime; punishment must fit the crime.
  • Certainty of apprehension has the most impact.

Weaknesses of the Classical School

  • Ignores specific circumstances.
  • Doesn't account for factors beyond control.
  • Not all criminals are rational (biological factors, mental illness, disorientation).
  • Concentrates on the crime itself, not individual differences.

Neo-classical Criminology

  • Based on free will and utilitarianism.
  • Differs from classical school:
    • "Let the punishment fit the crime" is too severe.
    • Believes in mitigating circumstances (childhood, mental infirmity).
    • Mitigating circumstances lessen offender culpability.
  • Free will isn't the only determinant; introduces mitigating circumstances.
  • Expert evidence helps determine criminal responsibility.

Choice Theory

Routine Activity Theory (RAT)

  • Developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson (1979).
  • Three elements for crime to occur:
    1. Motivated offender.
    2. Suitable victim or target.
    3. Absence of a capable guardian.

Key Assumptions of RAT

  • Routine patterns affect convergence of offenders, targets, and guardians.
  • All three elements must converge for a crime to occur.
  • If one factor is missing, crime is unlikely.
  • Theory of Victimization.

Examples of RAT Elements from Juvenile Delinquency: The Core (2017)

  • Motivated Offenders: Teenage boys, unemployed, drug addict gang members.
  • Suitable Targets: Unlocked homes, expensive cars, easily transportable goods (cell phones, laptops).
  • Capable Guardians: Police officers, homeowners, security systems, neighbors, parents.

Application to Youth

  • Explains why youth are at risk of offending and victimization.
  • Young unmarried males have highest victimization rates.
  • Nightly activities increase contact with offenders and high-risk behaviors.
  • Lifestyle increases victimization risk.

Summary of Cohen and Felson's Elements

  • Motivated Offender: Person with propensity to offend.
  • Suitable Target: Object, person, or property offender wants.
  • Absence of Capable Guardian: Can be friends, family, security, or self.
  • Traditional theories explain motivation; RAT examines opportunity.
  • Crime needs suitable victim; absence of guardians allows crime.

Positivist Criminology

  • Developed in the late 19th century.
  • Challenges classical school; factors beyond control cause crime.

Key Assumptions of Positivist School

  • Human behavior is determined, not free will.
  • Criminals are different from non-criminals.
  • Social scientists can be objective.
  • Crime is caused by multiple factors.

Determinism

  • Events are determined by external causes.
  • Implicates no free will and moral responsibility.
  • Acts are causally determined by preceding events or natural laws.

Three Types of Positivism

  • Biological Determinism
  • Psychological Determinism
  • Sociological Determinism

Classical vs. Positivist Schools

  • Classical: 18th-century Enlightenment, rational, free will, hedonistic.
  • Positivist: 19th-century, scientific method, behavior determined by psychological, biological, or social forces.

Crime vs. Criminality

  • Crime: A specific act violating the law.
  • Criminality: Propensity to engage in criminal acts; the state of being criminal.