Classical School of Criminology

Submitted to:Mrs. Jasdeep Kaur

Submitted by:Amrita Singh(908)

Classical school of criminology

The classical school of criminology was developed in the eighteenth century.

It was emerged in response to the cruel forms of punishment that dominated at the time.

Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria is considered to be the founder of the Classical school of criminology.

The classical school defined crime in legal termsThe classical school believed in the free-will theory i.e., a person was free to choose between right and wrong conduct.The classical school believed in the deterrent effect of punishment.The classical school focused its attention on the crime.

The classical school mainly focuses on the crime itself and not necessarily the criminal.The classical school aims to prevent crimes and have punishments for each offense committed by criminals established in advance.Overall, the classical school focuses on preventing crimes than to punish the people who commit them.

Classical school of criminology based on three assumptions

1. All the us have free will to make a choice between what we want legally or illegally.

2. The fear of punishment can deter a person from committing a criminal act.

3. The society can control the criminal or criminal behavior by making pain of punishment more severe than the pleasure for committing criminal activity.

main contributor to this school of criminology

Cesare Beccaria is the most important enlightenment thinker in the area of ‘classical' thinking and is considered as founder of the classical school of criminology.

He sought to reduce the harshness of eighteenth century judicial systems.

CESARE DE BECCARIA 

Cesare De Beccaria

He stated that; ‘It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them'.

He believed that laws needed to be put into place in order to make punishments consistent and in line with the crime.

He believed that crime prevention in its effectiveness is down to three main ideasCertainty of the crime and how likely it is to happenedCelerity of the crime and how quickly the punishment is inflictedSeverity of the crime, and how much pain is inflicted

In 1764, he published "On Crimes and Punishments“ arguing for the need to reform the criminal justice system by referring not to the harm caused to the victim, but to the harm caused to society.

He believed that :

Punishment should be deterrent than retributional

The law should be codified (written) with punishments prescribed in advance.Punishment should be limited (less harsher) to only that necessary to deter people from ever committing it again (no capital punishment).Punishment  should be severe, certain, and swift.The criminal justice system should be organized around crime prevention.

1.All individuals possess freewill Beccaria, like all classical theorist, believe that all individuals have freewill and make choices on that freewill.

2.Rational mannerThe second leg, rational manner, means that all individuals rationally look out for their own personal satisfaction. This ends up with the individuals and the society rationally looking for satisfaction, and at times these interests clash.

3.Manipulability

The third leg in which Beccaria’s theory rest is manipulability, universally shared human motive of rational self-interest makes human action predictable, general able and controllable.

There are three main legs in which Beccaria’s theory rests.

Principles in relation to Classical School

Role of legislatures should be both to define the crime and it also define the specific punishment for each specific crime.

The role of judges should be solely to determine guilt i.e., whether a person has committed crime or not once such determination is made, the judge should follow the strict letter of law in determining the punishment to the offender.

The seriousness of crime should be determined by extent of harm that it inflicts on society. That means the actual offence whatever is committed by the offender should taken into account rather than the intention with which it is committed.

Excess in severity not only fails to deter crime but actually increases it. The offender are driven to commission of additional crime to avoid punishments of single crime.

Punishment should be prompt. The more promptly and more closely punishment follows upon the commission of crime. The more just and useful it will be.

Punishment should also be certain. The certainty of the punishment always make a stronger impression in the mind of the person who commits the crime or who can commit the crime.

Principles Conti..

Law should be structured as to prevent crime from happening in the first place. According to Cesare Beccaria it is better to prevent the crime rather than providing punishment to them and this should be ultimate end of good legislation.

Law should be published so that public may know what they are and support their intent and purpose. The torture should be abolished there should be no secret acquisitions. Capital punishment should be replaced by imprisonment . The jails must be more humane and law should not distinguish between rich and poor.

Shortcomings of classical school

The major shortcoming of the classical school was that it proceeded on an abstract presumption of free will and relied solely on that act without paying attention to the state of mind of the criminal.

It erred in prescribing equal punishment for same offence thus making no distinction between first offenders andhabitual criminals.