Classical Theories of Crime Review
Classical Theories of Crime Review: Lecture One: Introduction to Theory: The Basics
What is Theory
Definition: A set of concepts linked together by a series of statements to explain why an event or phenomenon occurs.
Basic Goal of Theory
Primary Objective: To explain various phenomena or events, particularly in the context of crime.
What Makes a Good Theory
Sheds Light on a Topic: A good theory illuminates aspects of the topic it addresses.
Points Out Relationships Between Variables:
Variable: Something that changes.
Examines how different variables are linked to the problems we seek to explain.
A good theory makes predictions about outcomes.
Guides Research and Future Theory Development: It should be applicable to real-world issues and help in creating effective policies.
Holds Up to Empirical Scrutiny:
Tests the explanatory power of the theory, determining if it can be supported or not.
Parsimony: The theory should be straightforward and simple.
Policy Implications: It should offer useful insights for policy creation, specifically in dealing with crime.
Sensitizing Ability: Should prompt change in focus, explore new or forgotten directions, and alter viewpoints.
How Can We Classify Theory
Classification Methods:
Level of Analysis: Differentiates between macro-level and micro-level approaches.
Paradigmatic Structure: Identifies theoretical frameworks used in criminology.
Range of Explanation: Classifies theories as either general or restrictive.
Level of Analysis
Macro-Level: Focus on social structures that influence crime.
Micro-Level: Focus on social processes that may lead to crime.
Real-World Complexity: In practice, the application can be more nuanced than these categories suggest.
Paradigms
Basis for Theory Building:
Positivist Paradigm: Focus on scientific method and objective conditions.
Key Question: "What are the concrete cause(s) of crime?"
Social Constructionist Paradigm: Examines how crime is defined and perceived.
Key Question: "Who defines crime and for what purpose?"
Range of Explanation
General Theories: Aimed at explaining many types of crime but few succeed completely.
Restrictive Theories: Focus on specific types of crime under limited circumstances.
The Sociological Imagination
Definition: "A quality of mind that helps individuals use information and develop reasoning to achieve a lucid understanding of societal and personal dynamics."
The Promise: Integrates biography and history, prompting individuals to consider the intersections within society.
Characteristics:
Encourages thinking outside the box.
Challenges conventional wisdom.
Promotes a holistic view of societal processes and structures.
Lecture 2: The Classical School and Early Criminological Thought
Pre-Classical Perspective on Criminality
Supernatural Roots: Ideas centered around supernatural and religious causes of crime, including evil spirits and possession.
Methods of Treatment: Included exorcisms and severe punishments (e.g., torture, beheading).
The Age of Enlightenment
Thomas Hobbes and Social Contract Theory
Emphasized democracy, fairness, and rationality. The belief was that individuals follow rules to receive protection.
Human Nature: Considered to be rational and possessing free will. This laid the groundwork for later criminological theories.
The Classical School of Criminology
Foundation: Based primarily on Enlightenment philosophies and thinkers like Cesare Beccaria.
Origin: Emerged from Beccaria’s work "On Crimes and Punishment" (1764), popular for advocating the reform of brutal justice systems under authoritarian regimes.
Cesare Beccaria's Contributions
Advocated for replacing arbitrary punishments with legislated laws defining crimes and punishments.
Believed punishments should not consider the circumstances of the offender (e.g., the offender's background or the judge's attitude).
Introduced concepts of Actus Reus (the criminal act) and Mens Rea (the intention behind the act).
Notably argued that intent should matter, though this varies across societies.
Influence on Justice Systems
Beccaria opposed torture and supported trial by peers to ensure fairness and transparency.
Promoted the idea that increased public understanding of laws would reduce crime due to better-informed citizens.
Argued against the death penalty, seeing it as a violation of the social contract and ineffective in deterring crime.
Beccaria’s Deterrence Theory
Three Characteristics of Punishment:
Swiftness (Celerity): Punishment should be prompt to reinforce the connection between the crime and penalty.
Certainty: Even moderate punishments should be consistently enforced to deter future crime.
Severity: The penalty should outweigh the benefits of the crime, but excessive punishment can lead to more crime.
Deterrence Forms
Specific Deterrence: Focused on preventing the particular offender from reoffending.
General Deterrence: Aimed at deterring society from committing similar offenses. This highlights the importance of making punishments public to act as a warning to potential offenders.
Beccaria’s Legacy
Inspired reforms in Justice Systems reflecting due process, speediness of trials, and public access to court proceedings.
His work transformed punishment into a systematic science, emphasizing rational legal principles.
Lecture 3: The Positive School, Biology, and Psychology
Classical School vs. Positive School
Classical Theorists: Philosophers advocating for rationality, free will, and a modernized justice system.
Positive Theorists: Scientists focusing on objective measures and existing biological, psychological, and environmental factors influencing behavior.
The Positive School
Investigates the idea that crime could be beyond a person's control, looking for underlying causes employing scientific methods.
Lombroso’s Theory of Crime
The Criminal Man (1876): Lombroso proposed the idea of "born criminals" through the lens of atavism.
Identified physical traits believed indicative of criminality (stigmata).
Suggested criminals could be identified by bodily features that linked them to earlier stages of evolutionary development.
Consequences of Lombroso’s Theories
Theories influenced policy implications legitimizing practices such as slavery and deportation used by various regimes (e.g., Nazi Germany).
Intelligence and IQ Testing
Alfred Binet’s Contribution
Developed IQ tests aiming to identify slow learners, with an emphasis on the malleability of intelligence.
Formula: IQ = (Mental Age / Chronological Age) * 100 with 100 being the average.
Misapplication in the U.S. by H.H. Goddard
Adjusted Binet's intentions to legitimize deportation and sterilization of individuals deemed mentally unfit, leading to widespread social consequences.
William Sheldon’s Body-Type Theory
Developed the idea that body types correlate with personality traits, using a somatotyping approach based on embryonic development.
Types:
Endomorphic (obese): associated with being lazy (viscerotonic).
Mesomorphic (muscular): considered more aggressive and risk-taking (somatonic).
Ectomorphic (thin): shown as introverted (cerebtonic).
Body-Type Correlation to Criminality
Types such as mesomorphic were associated with a higher risk of criminal behavior, despite the limited methodological rigor.
Biosocial Perspectives on Crime
Investigates the interaction of biological and environmental factors as key influencers of criminal behavior, examining family, twin, and adoption studies.
Twin Studies: Focused on concordance rates between identical and fraternal twins regarding delinquency, noting a higher concordance in identical twins.
Adoption Studies Findings
Research illustrated that adoptive children with biological parents who were convicted of crimes had a higher likelihood of behaving criminally compared to those with non-criminal biological parents.
Other Influences on Criminal Behavior
Brain injuries, central nervous system activity, cytogenetic factors, and hormonal imbalances contribute to personality traits that align with criminal tendencies.
Psychopathy Traits
According to Hare:
Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R): A structured assessment for evaluating psychopathy includes elements such as lack of empathy, manipulativeness, and shallow affect.
Lecture 4: The Chicago School of Criminology
Sociological Focus
The Chicago School prioritized the social aspects of human behavior and criminology, emphasizing structure, organization, and culture.
Social Structural Theories
Focus on how society’s structure accords with crime rather than relying on biological or psychological variations.
Emile Durkheim's Contributions
Examined societal changes through historical contexts: American Revolution, French Revolution, and Industrial Revolution.
Laid foundations for Social Disorganization Theory.
Social Disorganization Theory
Considered as the first distinct sociological theory of crime; linked crime to geographic and social environments.
Chicago as a Case Study
Population exploded from 5,000 in the early 1800s to over 2,000,000 by 1900, creating disorganization due to rapid urbanization and industrial growth.
Ecological Models
Early Chicago sociologists proposed ecological models to understand human behavior in relation to urban growth, focusing on how cities evolve through natural patterns analogous to biological systems.
The Concentric Zone Theory by Burgess
Proposed by Ernest Burgess, this model theorizes urban growth and crime in concentric circles:
Zone 1: Central Business District.
Zone 2: Zone of Transition (highest crime).
Zone 3: Working-Class Zone.
Zone 4: Residential Zone.
Zone 5: Commuter Zone.
Shaw and McKay's Social Disorganization Theory Findings
Identified characteristics of neighborhoods: Physical dilapidation, poverty, heterogeneity, and high transient population all correlate with increased crime rates.
Emphasized social ills that overlap in zones with high delinquency rates and rejected biological determinism regarding crime.