Classical Theory Flashcards
Social Contract
Human beings are essentially self - seeking and self - interested. FREE WILL.
Social Context
We surrender some of our freedoms and submit to rule, in exchange for the protection of our remaining rights.
Deterrence Theory - Absolute
Having a legal system at all. How much can a given punishment deter crime?
Deterrence Theory - Marginal
Whether making punishment more swift, certain or severe will deter crime.
Deterrence Theory - General
When members of the public decide not to break the law because they fear legal punishment.
Deterrence Theory - Specific
When offenders already punished for breaking the law decide not to commit another crime.
Instrumental
Crimes committed for material again with some degree of planning.
Expressive Crime
Committed for emotional reasons with limited planning.
Contemporary Justice System
- No one, other than a person found guilty of a crime.
- Anyone found to be guilty of a crime.
- Punishment should be proportional to crime.
Rational Choice Theory
People decide whether to commit crime based on the information they have.
Cesare Beccaria
Believed that the state needed to ensure that peoples natural impulses are controlled.
Classical Theory Historical Context
Heavily influenced by Enlightenment ideals: looking to rebuild social structures on the basis of purely rational scientific principles rather than religious principles.
The Enlightenment
Suggested people are rational, pleasure/pain principle.
Before the ‘Age of Reason’
Religion was the dominant source of knowledge in the Western World through the Middle Ages.
