Non-sociological Explanations of Crime Part 1

Question 1

What was the explination behind Criminal behaviour pre-1600:

Answer 1

Thought to be caused by demons, evil spirits, “force of evil”

Question 2

What ideas were connected to criminal behaviour

Answer 2

Ideas were connected to religious doctrine
(. the written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group)

Question 3

What is Magna Carta

Answer 3

the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government were not above the law.

Question 4

What was the Magna Carta a foundation of

Answer 4

-modern laws and procedures in English law
-civil liberties in many countries around the world

Question 5

The Enlightenment (late 1600s – early 1700s):

What were the characteristics of criminology

Answer 5

• gave rise to new ways of thinking about crime
  -stimulated practical reactions to the treatment of offenders and the mentally ill in asylums. ( more humane treatment to prisoners)

Question 6

This period started to think of humans as rational beings (I think therefore I am)

Answer 6

The Enlightenment; Thomas Hobbes

Question 7

What was Leviathan (1651) “natural state” of humanity

Answer 7

nasty, brutish, and short

Question 8

First principle of human behaviour is

Answer 8

egoism (not normal to limit our freedom, “How do I make sure I survive”

Question 9

Fear of violent death acts as a force on human beings to enter into

Answer 9

a social contract with each other and leads to the formation of the state.

Question 10

How do members of society get protection from the state

Answer 10

must give up their natural rights and give absolute authority to the state

Question 11

Giving up natural rights is unnatural, so why do we do it?

Answer 11

Unnatural but rational; everyone is selfish therefore no social contracts = chaos

Question 12

What period was rationalism

Answer 12

late 1600s

Question 13

The idea that people were self-determining entities.

Answer 13

Rationalism

Question 14

What is the belief of Rationalism

Answer 14

Belief in the scientific method and in rational thinking

Question 15

What did John Locke assume

Answer 15

Assumed people were born “blank slates”.

And people were nurtured to violence/ crime

Question 16

What did John Locke believe state had to provide?

Answer 16

Life, Liberty, Health

Question 17

(Rationalism)
Free will and rational thought =

Answer 17

the basic building blocks of human activity and social organization

Question 18

Aim of The Classical School of Criminology

Answer 18

Late 1700s
Aimed at changing the system of retribution punishment

Question 19

Cesare Beccaria’s ideas on punishment

Answer 19

1. Believed punishment should equate to justice
   ex. Adultery = wearing red A
   -be swift and certain
   -fit the crime
   -be for the purpose of deterrence
2. Individual: stop criminals from re-offending
3. General: stop others from considering criminal behaviour

Question 20

If people are rational thinker then what stops them from doing criminal activities

Answer 20

People are rational thinkers & if they know their punishment they will not commit a crime

Question 21

Beccaria’s ideas on Juries

Answer 21

-efficient and fair
-combined of those who knew the victim and those who knew the accused

Question 22

Beccaria’s ideas on Criminals

Answer 22

-are rational, free-willed decision-makers
-can be deterred by the threat of punishment.

Question 23

Jeremy Bentham’s ideas and what was he involved in

Answer 23

• Humans are rational actors.
• Involved in prison design – the Panopticon (1799)

Question 24

What movement was Bentham a part of

Answer 24

Part of Utilitarianism Movement: The greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Question 25

Bentham’s idea on society

Answer 25

Society should be based on the social contract.

Question 26

Bentham’s idea on punishment

Answer 26

Punishments for purpose of deterrence:
need to be severe, certain, and swiftly applied.

Question 27

Bentham’s idea on judges

Answer 27

should have limited discretion in passing a sentence which should be about equal to the crime

Question 28

What did John Howard do

Answer 28

• Wrote “The State of Prisons” (1777)
• wanted to reform and humanize European prison systems
• The John Howard Society today acts as an alternative to punitive crime measures

Question 29

How was the European prison system corrupt and inhuman

Answer 29

Prisoners would go in for debt but they acquire debt for lodging in the prison which in turn gave them more debt. And the conditions were horrendous

Question 30

How did the Classical school influence the social policy of the mentally ill

Answer 30

• Earlier in history mentally ill left to roam freely.
  -During Industrial Revolution, thrown in prisons along with criminals, poor and undesirables.
  -Mental asylums were created as a better alternative, “liberating,” with more moral and humane conditions than in prisons.
  ( doesnt take into account you might not be criminally responsible but mentally incapable AKA lack of mens rea)

Question 31

Influence of The Classical School ( First 3 points)

Answer 31

-Free will
-Concept of utilitarianism
-Civil rights and due process

Question 32

Influence of The Classical School ( Second 3 points)

Answer 32

-Rules of evidence and testimony
-Accountability for one’s misdeeds
-Determinate sentencing

Question 33

Influence of The Classical School (Last 3 points)

Answer 33

-Swift justice and certain punishment
-Use of threat of punishment as a deterrent
-Rejection of capital punishment

Question 34

-Can only operate in a society where property is equally distributed

-Criminal responsibility:
Is everyone capable of rational thinking?
Does everyone have free will?

-No consideration for mitigating circumstances

What are these statements referring to?

Answer 34

Criticism of The Classical School

Question 35

What does Neoclassism consider? (4 points)

Answer 35

-physical and social environment where crime occurs.
-offender’s past record.
-children - less capable of making accountable decisions than -adults.
-issues of mental illness.

Question 36

What does Neoclassism highlight in crimes

Answer 36

deterrance