CONTRIBUTIONS

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II.

• CONTRIBUTIONS
• OF THE
• CLASSICAL SCHOOL

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A. Introduction

• 1. What is crime?
• a. (def) a positive OR negative act or
  omission prohibited by law, and in
  
• violation of the penal
  code, committed by anyone who is held
  
• responsible / accountable
  by that law.
• b. crime is that which arouses our
  indignation (Pound, 1930)
• c. defining crime leads to public
  policy decisions on how, who, and why soocial
• control will be imposed
• 2. a short history of crime creation,
  who/what?
• a. rise of the city-state
• gt Rome / Athens crime by
  proclamation
• b. church-based definitions (the Middle
  Ages)
• 1) demonic possession
• 2) dramatization of evil
• c. rise of republicanism
• gt in the last (20th) century
• a) Holocaust
• b) genocide across the globe

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• 3. an example
• gt Murder
• 1) (def) the UNLAWFUL killing of
  a human being by another with malice
• aforethought either
  expressed or implied
• 2) Qs Is the killing of
  another moral or immoral?
• gt Does morality
  have anything to do with crime commission or
• creation?
• 4. the notion of harm
• gt mala in se v mala prohibitum
• 5. how should crime be examined?
• a. in science, an entity must be
  measured
• b. how to measure crime?
• gt from Bureau of Justice
  Statistics (2004) (Table 1 and 2)
• c. what is the Dark Figure
• 6. what is criminology?
• 7. what is criminal justice?

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B. Is Crime a Problem?

• 1. what is the problem
• gt how significant?
• 2. is there a solution?
• 3. traditional social responses
• gt detection, prediction, awareness,
  coercion
• 4. A Crime Solution Model
• Criminological Criminal
  Justice
• Questions Questions

CRIME
Who Why Where When How Now what
Why Who Where What
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C. Preliminary Crime Thought

• 1. Classical School and Modern Legal
  Definitions
• a. 1600s through 1700s
• 1) emergence of state rule over
  the church
• 2) recognition that prevailing
  justice systems were cruel, capricious, and
• arbitrary
• 3) fair / just systems of
  prosecution / punishment were needed
• 4) underlying premise offenders
  have the ability to reason and make rational
• decisions knowing the
  consequences of their actions
• 5) crime control requires clear
  definitions / explanations of offenses, minimal
• judicial discretion, and
  quick / certain punishments
• 6) crime cannot exist without
  law, and law must be based on injury / harm to
  
• the individual and society
• 2. contributors
• a. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• 1) a society of fear
• 2) the social contract
• b. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
• 1) utilitarianism
• 2) pleasure-pain principle

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• c. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
• On Crimes and Punishment (1809)
• 1) crime as law must reflect the
  will of the State
• 2) crime must be based on
  categories of harm
• a) most serious crimes
  against the state
• b) most prevalent crimes
  that injure / affect the security of and / or the
  
• 
  property of individuals
• c) most recognized crimes
  that affect the public peace
• 3. contributions of the Classical School
  to contemporary criminal justice
• a. stare decisis let the decision
  stand
• 1) an act cannot be held criminal
  unless it has previously be adjudicated
• illegal
• 2) case law precedence
• b. res judicata a thing has been
  decided
• gt double jeopardy provision
• c. immorality of cruel and unusual
  punishment
• d. importance of due process
• e. need for just deserts
• f. philosophy of the presumption of
  innocence

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• 4. enduring legacy
• a. debate between voluntarism
  (free-will) vs determinism (pre-destination)
• b. Deterrence Theory
• 1) based on Benthamian
  utilitarianism / pleasure-pain perspective
• 2) types
• a) individual / specific
• b) general
• c. Rational Choice Theory (Cornish and
  Clarke, 1985)
• 1) crime lifes experiences,
  individual morality, self-esteem/concept, want /
• desire, levels
  of gratification
• 2) decision to commit precedes
  decision on what to commit
• 3) different crimes based on
  different decisions
• gt i.e., different rational
  choices

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D. Conclusion

• 1. all crime definitions are variable and
  derive from the social, cultural, political, and
  
• historical orientations of their creation
• 2. all crime definitions are value laden and
  biased
• a. they always reflect the bias found in
  society
• b. this bias must be recognized and
  acknowledged
• c. crime, like law varies through time
  and space
• d. for crime studies, legal definitions
  are an adequate starting point, but are
• deficient for critical analysis
  
• 3. recognition that people seek law and order