Classical Criminology Review (Chapter 2)

Question 1

How were theories of crime in the pre-18th century

Answer 1

Theories of crime were inspired by religious beliefs and superstition

There was a widespread belief in evil spirits and magic

People ascribed various unusual phenomena of nature to the activities of evil spirits
- Mental illness, birth defects, droughts, hurricanes, natural disasters the work of evil forces, not nature

This led to the belief that any pathology in human behaviour must also be due to evil spirits
- Religious beliefs were used to explain crime and deviance

Question 2

What is Temptation

Answer 2

Humans have free will and can choose their behaviour

However, the devil tempts; righteous believers are told they can resist the devil through their faith

Those who are sinful are weak and morally inferior

Question 3

What is Possession

Answer 3

Wrongdoers are possessed by evil spirits

Evidence of guilt determined through trials is intended to differentiate between the righteous and the sinner

Serve and often fatal methods used to rid a person of such spirits

Religious and political elites sought to silence rebellious people in times of social upheaval

Witches became a scapegoat for anger

Question 4

Blaming social problems on the devil and other evil spirits was a means to achieve two objectives. What are they?

Answer 4

1. It diverted attention from the failings of elites and placed the blame on individuals who were “possessed” by the devil
2. Those in power made themselves indispensable by saying only they could stop the devil

Question 5

What did the witches who were scapegoats for anger do?

Answer 5

They accused mostly women, especially independent women not protected by a male

Witch hunts are reinforced by the power of the existing social hierarchy

Question 6

What did the punishments consist of

Answer 6

The punishments were harsh and inhumane

Exorcism
Burned alive at stake
Beheading

Question 7

What is the social contract?

Answer 7

Essentially a product of events in European culture and society between 1500 and the mid-1700

• Diminished power of the aristocracy and the church
• Rising middle class

Question 8

What is the intellectual heritage?

Answer 8

Humanist philosophy - all men were free and had natural rights

Philosophy of Social Justice

Education and enlightenment (belief in power and human reason)

Question 9

Who is Tomas Hobbes

Answer 9

He is an English philosopher in his book The Leviathan

In his book, he discusses the conditions necessitating the establishment of a government

Man is naturally selfish: if unrestricted will pursue his own gratification by all means possible

State of nature - solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short: war of all against all: might be right

Need for a social contract and a “Leviathan” to make and enforce rules

Question 10

John Locke

Answer 10

He sees the state of nature as pre-political but not pre-moral

Despite the absence of government or civil authority, human relationships were guided by the law of nature

Law of nature - based on religious morality: and the basis of all morality. Commands us NOT to deprive others of their life, health, liberty, or possessions

The state of nature was not the state of war envisaged by Hobbes

Question 11

What’s the benefit of creating a government?

Answer 11

We gain:
- Laws
- Judges to adjudicate the laws
- The executive body to enforce the laws

When a government becomes tyrannical it returns us to a state of nature and therefore must be resisted (not a right, but an obligation)

Question 12

What is the social contract?

Answer 12

A political philosophy to justify government

A contract that exists between the state and its citizens

Individuals surrender to the state only the limited rights necessary to ensure the protection of all citizens

Question 13

What is classical Criminology?

Answer 13

A movement of reform that favoured legislating of balanced criminal code of law

Developed the first organized thought on
- Crime
- Criminals
- A criminal justice system

Wanted to eliminate torture

An important task for this time was making punishment just, fair, proportional, and less cruel

Question 14

Who is Cesare Beccaria?

Answer 14

One of the founders of the classical school

Italian philosopher and classical theorist

On crime and punishment: Outlines and enlightenment criminal justice system to serve the people and not the monarchy

Question 15

What does Cesare Beccaria believe?

Answer 15

Right of government to punish

That punishment must be regulated by a penal code

Imprisonment as the standard form of punishment

The punishment must fit the crime

Question 16

Who is Jeremy Bentham?

Answer 16

He is a British Philosopher also concerned with achieving the greatest happiness of the greatest number

Popularized Beccaria’s vision with Utilitarianism writing

Question 17

What did Jeremy Bentham Argue?

Answer 17

Prevention is the focus of criminal law

If you don’t deter, at least try to frighten criminals into fewer and less destructive crime

Dont punish unless necessary - there are consequences to your actions

Question 18

What is Utilitarism?

Answer 18

It assumes all human actions are calculated in accordance with their likelihood of bringing happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain)

Question 19

What are the 4 objectives of punishment?

Answer 19

1. To prevent all criminal offences
2. To convince the offender to commit the least serious crime possible
3. To ensure that a criminal uses no more force than necessary
4. To prevent crime as cheaply as possible (punishment is a deterrent within itself)