Ch 8. Early Theories of Crime

Question 1

A big concept to consider when looking at theories of crime

Answer 1

what do they say about human agency:
free will or determinism?

Question 2

During the pre-18th century time frame, theories of crime were inspired by…

Answer 2

religious beliefs and superstition, with widespread belief in unusual phenomena attributed to evil spirits, magic.

those challenging the status quo were heretics and witches (women)

Question 3

Judeo-Christian teachings, pre-enlightenment offer what two explanations for the role of evil spirits in sinful behaviour?

Answer 3

1. Temptation: free will and chosen behaviour
2. Possession: determinism, evil spirits possess the wrongdoer

Question 4

During the Enlightenment, theories of crime were marked by an increase in…

Answer 4

…scientific reason, ideas of free will, and rationality

Question 5

What were the Enlightenment reformers’ views on punishment for crime?

Answer 5

• highlighted the need for work alongside imprisonment
• punishment should deter criminality

Question 6

The scientific revolution caused ideas to shift away from fanaticism and religious superstition to…

Answer 6

…naturalistic explanation based on reason and the scientific method (observation).

Question 7

Society is composed of free and rational human beings. This view lead to calls for more individual rights and freedoms.
People enter into a social contract and give up some freedom for a safer society

Answer 7

Enlightenment philosopher’s view of society

Question 8

What is considered the first formal school of criminology that is associated with the 18th, 19th century reforms to the justice and prison systems? They advocated for principles of rights, fairness, deterence, and due process in place of retribution and brutality.

Answer 8

The Classical School - Liberalism/Utilitarianism

Question 9

Who in the classical school was concerned with humanitarian issues surrounding sentencing and imprisonment?
Writing: essay on Crime and Punishments (1764)

Answer 9

Cesare Beccaria

Question 10

Since the Classical School of Criminologists argued that people were free and rational actors, what was their proposal for the key to preventing crime?

Answer 10

Establishing a Criminal Code where punishments fit the crime

Question 11

1. Proportionality
2. Laws were made available to the public
3. Human rights and due process (assumption of innocence) were stressed
4. Introduced degrees of culpability
5. Separation of judicial and legislative systems

Answer 11

Reform for dealing with crime under the Enlightenment

Question 12

What are the limitations of the classical school? (3)

Answer 12

1. Equal punishments did not allow for flexibility
2. Does not factor in personal considerations for individual offenders
3. Judges had no discretion

Question 13

What theory argued against the classical school for more flexibility in the justice system to introduce sentences that accounted for offender characteristics (ex: socio-economic status, age), mitigating circumstances (mental competence), and motive?

Answer 13

NeoClassical Theory

Question 14

The neoclassical School of thought was introduced to be more flexible than the classical school because of what two reasons?

Answer 14

1. individual rights
2. due process (treated fairly)

Question 15

What school arose in the first half of the 19th century and used statistics to explore social issues and pursued a structural explanation of crime?

Answer 15

The Statistical School

Question 16

The Statistical School is associated with positivism because?

Answer 16

Crime was thought to be the result of natural causes to be discovered through scientific methods.

Question 17

The statistical school gathered data to provide a critical/insightful perspective on the relationship between certain factors (ex. pop. density, education, poverty) and crime. Those studies showed how…

Answer 17

…structural features of society can put people in unfavorable and unequal social circumstances that correlate to crime.

Question 18

Which school used the scientific method (controlled observation) to compare criminals and noncriminals, focusing on biological factors beyond the individual’s control?

Answer 18

Positive School

Question 19

The positive school blamed the individual (biology) while…

Answer 19

the statistical school blamed society.

Question 20

Who was the biological positivist who focused on biology to understand criminality? He used Darwin’s evolutionary theory and considered criminals less evolved.

Answer 20

Cesare Lombroso

Question 21

While classical theorists said that punishment should fit the crime, Lombroso (positivist/biological theorist) said that…

Answer 21

punishment should fit the criminal.

Question 22

Lomborso’s biological theory attracted a large following but where did he have many problems?

Answer 22

with his methodology

Question 23

Recent biological theories focus on the relationship between crime and…

Answer 23

….intelligence

Question 24

What movement, regardless of poor research, resulted in the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities in the US and Canada?

Answer 24

Eugenics Movement

Question 25

Recently, what criticism has emerged against IQ tests?

Answer 25

cultural bias

Question 26

What is another form of recent research that isn’t studying criminality and intelligence?

Answer 26

link between individual characteristics and crime

Question 27

Is the evidence supporting a link between biological/intellectual definceies and criminal behaviour weak or strong?

Answer 27

very weak

Question 28

Lomboroso said that there were born criminals who can be distinguished by…

Answer 28

…STIGMATA (physical/biological inferior traits) being physical signs of their ATAVISM (throwback to earlier stages of evolution)

Question 29

who developed the biological theories of criminality based on body types? (endomorphs, mesomorphs, ectomorphs)

Answer 29

Sheldon(sotomatotype theory) in the 1950s