INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY

CRIMINOLOGY
- the entire body of knowledge regarding crimes, criminals and the
efforts of society to prevent and repress them
- a body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon; it
includes within its scope, the making of laws, the breaking of laws and
the reactions toward the breaking of laws
- the scientific study of the causes of crime in relation to man and
society who set and define rules and regulations for himself and others
to govern

The scientific study of crimes and criminals is extended in three basic

lines:

1) nature of criminal law and its administration

2) causes of crimes and behavior of criminals
3) control of crimes and rehabilitation of offenders

NATURE OF CRIMINOLOGY

1) It is an applied science.

In the study of the causes of crimes, anthropology, psychology, sociology

and other natural sciences may be applied. While in crime detection, chemistry,
medicine, physics, mathematics, ballistics, polygraphy, questioned document
examination may be utilized. This is called instrumentation.

2) It is a social science.

In as much as crime is a social creation, that it exists in a society being a

social phenomenon, its study must be considered a part of social science.

3) It is dynamic.

Criminology changes as a social condition changes. It is concomitant with

the advancement of other sciences that have been applied to it.

4) It is nationalistic.

The study of crimes must be in relation with the existing criminal law within
a territory or country. The question as to whether an act is a crime is dependent
on the criminal law of a state. It follows therefore that the causes of crime must
be determined from its social needs and standards.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY

1) study of the origin and development of criminal law

2) study of the causes of crimes and development of criminals.
3) study of the different factors that enhances the development of criminal
behavior, such as:
a) criminal demography – the study of the relationship between
criminality and population
b) criminal epidiomology – the study of the relationship between
environment and criminality
 c) criminal ecology – the study of criminality in relation to the spatial
distribution in a community
d) criminal physical anthropology – the study of criminality in
relation to physical constitution of men
e) criminal psychology – the study of human behavior in relation to
criminality
f) criminal psychiatry – the study of human mind in relation to
criminality
g) victimology – the study of the role of the victim in the commission
of a crime

CRIME
- an act or omission in violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it

SUB-CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

1) FELONY
- an act or omission punishable by law which is committed by means of
dolo (deceit) or culpa (fault)and punishable under the Revised Penal
Code

2) OFFENSE
- an act or omission in violation of a special law

3) INFRACTION
- an act or omission in violation of a city or municipal ordinance

ELEMENTS OF A FELONY

a) INTENTIONAL FELONIES:
- felonies committed by means of dolo (deceit)
- the act or omission is performed with deliberate intent or malice

1) freedom or voluntariness
2) intelligence
3) intent

b) CULPABLE FELONIES:
- felonies committed by means of culpa (fault)
- the act or omission of the offender is not malicious and the injury
caused by the offender is unintentional, it being the simply the
incident of another act performed without malice
1) lack of foresight
2) lack of skill
3) negligence
4) imprudence

LEGAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

1) as to the manner crimes are committed:

a) by means of dolo or deceit
b) by means of culpa or fault
2) as to the stages in the commission of crimes:
a) consummated crime – when all the elements necessary for its
execution and accomplishment are present
b) frustrated crime – when the offender has performed all the acts of
execution which will produce the felony as a consequence but
which nevertheless do not produce it, by reason of causes
independent of the will of the perpetrator
c) attempted crime - when the offender commences the commission
of a crime directly by overt acts and does not perform all the acts of
execution which should produce the felony by reason of some
cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance

3) according to plurality:
a) simple crime – single act constituting only one offense
b) complex crime – single act constituting two or more grave felonies or
an is a necessary means for committing the other

4) according to gravity:
a) grave felonies – those to which the law attaches the capital
punishment or afflictive penalties
b) less grave felonies – those to which the law attaches correccional
penalties
c) light felonies – those to which the law attaches the penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding P200.00

CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

1) according to the result of the crime:

a) acquisitive crime – the offender acquires something
b) extinctive crime – the consequence of the act is destructive

2) according to the time or period of the commission of the crime:

a) seasonal crime – committed only during a certain period of the
year
b) situational crime – committed only when the situation is conducive
to its commission

3) according to the length of time of the commission of the crime:

a) instant crime – committed in the shortest possible time
b) episoidal crime – committed by a series of acts in a lengthy space
of time

4) according to the place or location:

a) static crime – committed in only one place
b) continuing crime – committed in several places

5) according to the use of mental faculties:

a) rational crime – committed with intent and the offender is in full
possession of his sanity
b) irrational crime – committed by an offender who does not know
the nature and quality of his act on account of the disease of the
mind

6) according to the type of offender:

a) white-collar crime – committed by a person belonging to the upper
socio-economic class in the course of his occupational activities
b) blue-collar crime – committed by ordinary professional criminal to
maintain his livelihood
CRIMINAL

- in the legal sense, a criminal is any person who has been found to
have committed a wrongful act in the course of the standard judicial
process; there must be a final verdict of his guilt
- in the criminological sense, a person is already considered a criminal
the moment he committed a crime

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS

1) on the basis of etiology:

a) acute criminals – persons who violate criminal law because of the
impulse of the moment, fit of passion or anger
b) chronic criminals – persons who acted in consonance with
deliberated thinking, such as:

b.1) neurotic criminals – persons whose actions arise from the

intra-psychic conflict between the social and anti-social
components of his personality
b.2) normal criminals – persons whose psychic organization
resembles that of a normal individual except that he
identifies himself with criminal prototype

2) on the basis of behavioral system:

a) ordinary criminals – the lowest form of criminal career; they
engage only in conventional crimes which require limited skill
b) organized criminals – these criminals have a high degree of
organization that enables them to commit crimes without being
detected and committed to specialized activities which can be
operated in large scale businesses.
c) professional criminals – these are highly skilled and able to
obtain considerable amount of money without being detected
because of organization and contact with other professional
criminals

3) on the basis of activities:

a) professional criminals – those who earn their living through criminal
activities
b) accidental criminals – those who commit criminal acts as a result of
unanticipated circumstances
c) habitual criminals – those who continue to commit criminal acts for
such diverse reasons due to deficiency of intelligence and lack of
control
d) situational criminals – those who are actually not criminals but get
in trouble with legal authorities because they commit crimes
intermixed with legitimate economic activities

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF CRIMINAL LAW

CRIMINAL LAW or PENAL LAW

- that branch of public law which defines crimes, treats of their nature
and provides for their punishment

REVISED PENAL CODE

- the book that contains the Philippine criminal law
- effectivity of the RPC is 1 January 1932
CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL LAW

1) It is general in application/ GENERALITY:

The provisions of the criminal or penal law must be applied equally to all
persons within the territory regardless of sex, race, nationality and other personal
circumstances, with the following exceptions:
a) heads of state or country
b) foreign diplomats and ambassadors

2) It is territorial in character/ TERRITORIALITY:

As part of the right of a state to self-preservation, each independent
country has the right to promulgate laws enforceable within its territorial
jurisdiction, subject only to the limitations imposed by treaties of preferential
applications and by the operation of international law of nations. The Revised
Penal Code and the other special laws are applicable only to the areas within the
Philippine territorial jurisdiction, such as:

a) Philippine archipelago – all the islands that comprise the Philippines

b) atmosphere water – all bodies of water that connect all the islands such
as bays, rivers and streams
c) maritime zone – the twelve (12) mile limit beyond our shore measured at
low tide

EXCEPTIONS TO THE TERRITORIAL CHARACTER OF THE REVISED

PENAL CODE:

The Revised Penal Code shall be applicable to all cases committed

outside the Philippine territorial jurisdiction under the following circumstances:

a) should commit an offense while on Philippine ship or airship;

b) should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine
Island or obligations and securities issued by the government of the
Philippines;
c) while being a public officer or employee, should commit an offense in
the exercise of their functions’
d) should commit any of the crimes against national security and law of
nations

3) It is prospective or irretrospective/PROSPECTIVITY:

No person may be punished for his act when at the time he committed the
act, it is still not yet punishable by law. However, penal laws may be given
retroactive effect when it is favorable to the accused.

4) It is specific and definite.

Criminal law must give a strict definition of a specific act which constitutes
an offense. Where there is doubt as to whether a definition embodied in the
Revised Penal Code applies to the accused or not, the judge is obligated to
decide the case in favor of the accused. Criminal law must be construed
liberally in favor of the accused and strictly against the state.

5) It is uniform in application.

An act described as a crime is a crime no matter who committed it,

wherever committed in the Philippines and whenever committed. No exceptions
must be made as to the criminal liability. The definition of crimes together with
the corresponding punishment must be uniformly construed, although there may
be a difference in the enforcement of a given specific provision of the penal law.

6) There must be a penal sanction or punishment.

Penal sanction is the most essential part of the definition of the crime. If
there is no penalty to a prohibited act, its enforcement will almost be impossible.
The penalty is acting as a deterrence and as a measure of self-defense of the
state to protect society from the threat and wrong inflicted by the criminal.

THE EVOLUTION OF CRIMINOLOGY

ORIGIN OF THE WORD “CRIMINOLOGY”

The term criminology was derived from the Italian tern “criminologia”
coined by Raffaelle Garofalo, an Italian law professor, in 1885.

In 1887, Paul Topinard, a French anthropologist, used the term

“criminologie”.

An American criminologist in the person of Edwin Sutherland introduced

his own definition of the term “criminology”. According to him, criminology is
the entire body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It
includes within its scope the process of making laws, of breaking laws and
of reacting towards the breaking of the laws.

EVOLUTION OF CRIMINAL LAWS

A) PREHISTORIC CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Primitive Tribes
- punishment may be in the form of ostracism and expulsion
- adultery may be punished by the aggrieved husband who may kill the
adulterer and his own offending wife
- crime may be avenged by the victim himself or by the victim’s family

B) THE EARLY CODES

1) CODE OF HAMMURABI
- Hammurabi, the king of Babylon during the eighteenth century BC, is
recognized as the first codifier of laws
- it provides the first comprehensive view of the laws in the early days
- the Code was carved in stone
- the “law of talion”, or the principle of “tit for tat”,(an eye for an eye, tooth for
a tooth) appears throughout the Code
- under the principle of the law of talion, the punishment should be the
same as the harm inflicted on the victim

Highlights of the Code of Hammurabi:

a) compensation to the victim of a robbery by the authorities of the city in
which the robbery occurred if the thief was not caught
b) the killer is answerable not to the family of the victim but to the king
c) death was the penalty for robbery, theft, false witness, building a house
that falls on its owner
(if the house should collapse and kill the owner’s son, the son of the
builder would be the one executed)
 d) a son who struck his father would suffer the amputation of a hand
e) if in an assault a victim’s bone was broken, the same bone of the assailant
would be broken

2) THE HITTITES
- the Hittites existed about two centuries after Hammurabi and eventually
conquered Babylon

Highlights of the laws of the Hittites:

- capital punishment was used for many offenses, except for homicide or
robbery
- rape, sexual intercourse with animals, defiance of the authority and
sorcery were all punishable by death
- the law of homicide provided for the restitution to the victim’s heirs
- law enforcement and judicial functions were placed in the hands of
commanders of military garrisons

3) CODE OF DRAKON
- knows as the “ultimate in severity”
- codified by Drakon, the Athenian lawgiver of the seventh century BC

Highlights of the Code of Drakon:

- death was the punishment for almost every offense
- murderers might avoid execution by going into exile; if they return to
Athens, it was not a crime to kill them
- death penalty was administered with great brutality

4) LAWS OF SOLON
- Solon was appointed archon and was given legislative powers
- Solon repealed all the laws of the Code of Drakon, except the law on
homicide
- Solon was one of the first to see that a lawgiver had to make laws that
applied equally to all citizens and also saw that the law of punishment had
to maintain proportionality to the crimes committed

Highlights of the Laws of Solon:

- the thief was required to return stolen property and pay the victim a sum
equal to twice its value
- for the crime of temple robbery, the penalty was death
- for rape of a woman, the penalty was a fine of certain amount

5) ROME’S TWELVE TABLES

- Roman law began with the Twelve Tables which were written in the
middle of the sixth century BC
- the Twelve Tables were the foundation of all laws in Rome and written
in tablets of bronze
- the Twelve Tables were drafted by the Decemvirs, a body of men
composed of patricians

Highlights of the Twelve Tables:

- if a man break another’s limb and does not compensate the injury, he
shall be liable to retaliation
- a person who committed arson of a house or a stack of corn shall be
burned alive
- judges who accepted bribes as well as those who bribed them were
subject to execution
- any act of treason was punishable by crucifixion
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGY

CLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY

The classical school of criminology grew out of a reaction against the

barbaric system of law, punishment and justice that existed. There was no real
system of criminal justice in Europe at that time. Some crimes were specified,
some were not. Judges had discretionary power to convict a person for an act
not even legally defined as criminal.

This school of thought is based on the assumption that individuals choose

to commit crimes after weighing the consequences of their actions. According
to classical criminologists, individuals have free will. They can choose legal
or illegal means to get what they want, fear of punishment can deter them from
committing crime and society can control behavior by making the pain of
punishment greater than the pleasure of the criminal gains.

This theory, however, does not give any distinction between an adult and a
minor or a mentally-handicapped in as far as free will is concerned.

FOUNDERS OF THE CLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY

1) CESARE BONESANA MARCHESE DI BECCARIA (1738-1794)

- published a book entitled “On Crimes and Punishment” in 1764; this

book presented a coherent and comprehensive design for an
enlightened criminal justice system that was to serve the people
- his book contains almost all modern penal reforms but its greatest
contribution was the foundation it laid for subsequent changes in
criminal legislation
- his book was influential in the reforms of penal code in France, Russia,
Prussia and it influenced the first ten amendments to the US
Constitution

HIGHLIGHTS OF CESARE BECCARIA’S IDEAS REGARDING CRIMES AND

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

“In forming a human society, men and women sacrifice a portion of their libery so
as to enjoy peace and security.”

“Punishments that go beyond the need of preserving the public safety are in their
nature unjust.”

“Criminal laws must be clear and certain. Judges must make uniform judgments
in similar crimes.”

“The law must specify the degree of evidence that will justify the detention of an
accused offender prior to his trial.”

“Accusations must be public. False accusations should be severely punished.”

“To torture accused offenders to obtain a confession is inadmissible.”

“The promptitude of punishment is one of the most effective curbs on crime.”

“The aim of punishment can only be to prevent the criminal from committing new
crimes against his countrymen, and to keep others from doing likewise. Punishments,
therefore, and the method of inflicting them, should be chosen in due proportion to
the crime, so as to make the most lasting impression on the minds of men…”
 “Capital punishment is inefficacious and its place should be substituted life
imprisonment.”

“It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. That is the chief
purpose of all good legislation.”

JEREMY BENTHAM

- founded the concept of UTILITARIANISM – assumes that all our

actions are calculated in accordance with their likelihood of bringing
pleasure and pain
- devised the pseudo-mathematical formula called “felicific calculus”
which states that individuals are human calculators who put all the
factors into an equation in order to decide whether a particular crime is
worth committing or not
- he reasoned that in order to deter individuals from committing crimes,
the punishment, or pain, must be greater than the satisfaction, or
pleasure, he would gain from committing the crime

NEOCLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY

This theory modified the doctrine of free will by stating that free will of men
may be affected by other factors and crime is committed due to some compelling
reasons that prevail. These causes are pathology, incompetence, insanity or any
condition that will make it impossible for the individual to exercise free will
entirely. In the study of legal provisions, this is termed as either mitigating or
exempting circumstances.

POSITIVIST CRIMINOLOGY

During the late eighteenth century, significant advances in knowledge of

both the physical and social world influenced thinking about crime. Forces of
positivism and evolutionism moved the field of criminology from philosophical to a
scientific perspective. From there, a more diligent search of criminal behavior
began.

Positive theorists were the first to claim the importance of looking at

individual difference among criminals. These theorists who concentrated on the
individual structures of a person, stated that people are passive and controlled,
whose behaviors are imposed upon them by biological and environmental
factors.

CESARE LOMBROSO
- considered the FATHER OF MODERN CRIMINOLOGY due to his
application of modern scientific methods to trace criminal
behavior, however, most of his ideas are now discredited
- he claimed that criminals are distinguishable from non-criminals due to
the presence of atavistic stigmata – the physical features of
creatures at an earlier stage of development
- he asserted that crimes are committed by those who are born with
certain recognizable hereditary traits
- according to his theory, criminals are usually in possession of huge
jaws and strong canine teeth, the arm span of criminals is often
greater than their height, just like that of apes who use their forearms
to push themselves along the ground
- other physical stigmata include deviation in head size and shape,
asymmetry of the face, excessive dimensions of the jaw and
 - cheekbones, eye defects and peculiarities, ears of unusual size, nose
twisted, upturned or flattened in thieves, or aqualine or beaklike in
murderers, fleshy lips, swollen and protruding, and pouches in the
cheek like those of animal’s toes
- Lombroso’s work supported the idea that the criminal was a
biologically and physically inferior person
- according to him, there are three (3) classes of criminals:
1) born criminals – individuals with at least five (5) atavistic stigmata
2) insane criminals – those who are not criminals by birth; they
become criminals as a result of some changes in their brains which
interfere with their ability to distinguish between right and wrong
3) criminaloids - those with make up of an ambiguous group that
includes habitual criminals, criminals by passion and other diverse
types

DIFFERENT APPROACHES UNDER THE POSITIVIST CRIMINOLOGY

A) BIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

This explanation for the existence of criminal traits associates an

individual’s evil disposition to physical disfigurement or impairment.

1) GIAMBATTISTA DELA PORTA (1535-1615)

- Italian physician who founded the school of human physiognomy,
the study of facial features and their relation to human
behavior; the study of judging a person’s character from facial
features to determine whether the shape of the ears, nose and
eyes and the distances between them were associated with
anti-social behavior

2) JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER (1741-1801)

- Swiss theologian who believed that people’s true characters and
inclinations could be read from their facial features

3) FRANZ JOSEPH GALL (1758-1828)

- born in Germany, a renowned neuroanatomist and physiologist and
a pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the
brain
- developed cranioscopy, a method to study the personality and
development of mental and moral faculties based on the
external shape of the skull
- cranioscopy was later renamed as phrenology, the study that
deals with the relationship between the skull and human
behavior

4) CHARLES GORING
- also stutied phrenology or craniology which deals with the study of
the external formation of the skull indicating the conformation of the
brain and the development of its various parts which is directly
related to the behavior of the criminal
- he believed that criminal characteristics were inherited and
recommended that people with such characteristics should not be
allowed to reproduce
- according to him, people with epilepsy, insanity and
feeblemindedness were among those who should not be allowed to
have children
5) JOHANN KASPAR SPURZHEIM (1776-1832)
- German phrenologist who was the assistant of Gall
- he was the man most responsible for popularizing and spreading
phrenology to a wide audience

PHYSIOLOGY OR SOMATOTYPE
- this refers to the study of the body build of a person in relation to his
temperament and personality and the type of offense he is most prone
to commit.
- this study which searches the relationship of body build to behavior
became popular during the first half of the twentieth century.

The following are the proponents of the somatotype school of criminology:

1) ERNST KRETCHMER
- he correlated body build and constitution with characters or
temperamental reactions and mentality
- he distinguished three (3) principal types of physiques:
a) asthenic – lean, slightly built, narrow shoulders; their crimes are
petty thievery and fraud
b) athletic – medium to tall, strong, muscular, coarse bones; they are
usually connected with crimes of violence
c) pyknic – medium height, rounded figures, massive neck, broad
face; they tend to commit deception, fraud and violence

2) WILLIAM SHELDON
- formulated his own group of somatotype:

TYPE OF PHYSIQUE TEMPERAMENT

a) endomorphic - relatively large viscerotonic – generally

digestive viscera; round body; relax and comfortable
short, tapering limbs; small person, loves luxury bones; smooth, velvety skin
essentially extrovert

b) mesomorphic – with relative romotonic – active,

predominance of muscles, bones dynamic; walks, talks
and motor organs of the body and gestures assertively
with large wrist and hands
and behaves
aggressively

c) ectomorphic – relative pre- cerebrotonic – introvert

dominance of skin and its prone to allergies, skin appendages
which Includes troubles, chronic
the nervous system; it has fatigue, insomnia, sen-
fragile and delicate bones; sitive skin and sensi-
with droopy shoulders, small tive to noise
face and sharp nose, fine hair
and with relatively small body

HEREDITY AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY

1) RICHARD DUGDALE
- he studied the lives of the members of the JUKES FAMILY and referred to
ADA JUKES as the MOTHER OF CRIMINALS
- he discovered that from among the descendants of Ada Jukes, there were
280 paupers, 60 thieves, 7 murderers, 40 other criminals, 40 persons with
venereal diseases and 50 prostitutes
- he claimed that since families produce generations of criminals, they
must have been transmitting degenerate traits down the line
2) HENRY GODDARD
- he studied the lives of the KALLIKAK FAMILY and found that among the
descendants from MARTIN KALLIKAK’s relationship with a feeble-minded
lady, there were 143 feeble-minded and only 46 normal, 36 were
illegitimate, 3 epileptics, 3 criminals, 8 kept brothels and 82 died of
infancy; his marriage with a woman from a good family produced almost
all normal descendants, only 2 were alcoholics, 1 was convicted of
religious offense, 15 died at infancy and no one became criminal or
epileptic

INTELLIGENCE AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY

The classic studies of the Juke and Kallikak families were among the first
to show that feeblemindedness or low-intelligence can be inherited and
transferred from one generation to the next. Numerous test were also conducted
that lead to the development of the use of IQ tests as a testing procedure for
offenders. The very first results seemed to confirm that offenders had low mental
abilities and they were found to be mentally impaired.

B. PYSCHOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

This explains the psychological determinants which define behavior of a

person. This idea has long been hatched by thinkers who were consumed by the
belief that it is the psychological equivalents that prod the person to act the way
he does.

There are many ways to classify psychological theories of crime

causation. Some of the theories emphasize emotional problems, mental
disorders, sociopathy and thinking patterns. But the common assumption of
these theories is that there is something wrong with the mind of the
offender which caused him to commit crimes.

From among the many theories regarding the relationship of psychology

and crime, the psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud is the most notable:

1) SIGMUND FREUD
- he is recognized as the FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
- he founded the PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF CRIMINALITY in which
he attributed delinquent and criminal behavior to a conscience that is
overbearing which arouses feelings of guilt or a conscience that is so
weak that it cannot control the individual’s impulses and the need for
immediate gratification
- in his theory, PERSONALITY IS COMPRISED OF THREE
COMPONENTS:

a) ID – this stands for instinctual drives; it represents our unconscious

biological needs for food, water, sleep, sex and other life sustaining
necessities including aggression as well as primitive needs that are
present at birth; this pleasure seeking part of human personality is
concerned about gratification of one’s wishes; it is governed by the
“pleasure principle”; the id impulses are not social and must be
repressed or adapted so that they may become socially acceptable

b) EGO – this is considered to be the sensible and responsible part of

an individual’s personality and is governed by the “reality
principle”; it is developed early in life and compensates for the
demands of the id by helping the individual guide his actions to
 remain within the boundaries of accepted social behavior; it is the
objective, rational part of the personality

c) SUPEREGO – serves as the moral conscience of an individual; it

is that part of an individual’s personality that allows the person to
feel pride, shame and guilt; it is structured by what values were
taught by the parents, the school and the community, as well as
belief in God; it is largely responsible for making a person follow
the moral codes of society

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

1) EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS THEORIES

The emotional problem theories look at the offender as having the same
psychological make-up as that of a non-offender. There is no disease or
psychological disorder present in the offender. But the offender does not cope
well with his environment and this creates frustration that results in crime.

The emotional problem theories assume that the lawbreaker does not
have a great mental sickness that causes him to commit crimes but rather, he
commits crime because of everyday emotional problems that made him unable to
cope. As a result, the offender acts out criminally.

2) MENTAL DISORDER THEORIES

There are two general types of mental disorders. First, the organic
disorder, where the physiological cause can be identified, such as head injuries
that left the mind blank, senility, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Organic disorders refer to the brain’s disorder or sickness. Second is the
functional disorder, which is characterized by strange behavior that cannot be
traced to any known organic disease. Examples of functional disorders are those
people with no apparent brain sickness who hear voices that other do not hear,
or who see things that others do not see.

TYPE OF MENTAL DISORDERS

1) NEUROSES
- a common type of mental disorder used to explain criminal behavior
- also referred to as hysteria or neurasthenia
- some of the more common neuroses are:

a) ANXIETY – also known as anxiety state or anxiety reaction;

characterized by the person feeling anxious, fearful anticipation or
apprehension; the person may be irritable, have poor concentration
and over reacts to things that are annoying

b) OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR – people who suffer from

this have unwanted, intrusive and repetitive thoughts or behaviors

OBSESSION – a repetitive and irresistible thoughts or urge

COMPULSION – a repetitive behavior that is thought to produce or

prevent something that is thought to be magically connected to the
behavior

c) PHOBIA – excessive and unexplainable fear of something;

generally exaggerated fear of things that normal people do not fear
with the same degree
 d) DEPRESSION – extreme feeling of low morale, sadness,
loneliness, self-pity, despair, rejection, boredom and pessimism; a
person is said to be depressed if these feelings become pervasive
and can already affect all aspects of a person’s life

d) IMPULSE DISORDER – an excessive or unreasonable desire to do

or have something; an irrational or irresistible motive; examples of
this are kleptomania, pyromania, dipsomania and others

2) PSYCHOSES
- a more serious type of mental disorder, which can be organic or functional
- psychotic people lose contact with reality and have difficulty distinguishing
reality from fantasy
- the most common type of psychosis are the following:

a) SCHIZOPRENIA – also called dementia praecox; characterized

by distortions or withdrawal from reality, disturbances of thoughts
and language and withdrawal from social contact

b) PARANOIA - gradual impairment of the intellect, characterized by

delusions or hallucination

DELUSION – false belief

HALLUCINATION – false perception

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR – a false belief that you are greater

than everybody else

DELUSIONS OF PERSECUTION – a false belief that other people

are conspiring to kill, harm or embarrass you

C) SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

Sociological factors refers to things, places and people with whom we

come in contact with and which play a part in determining our actions and
conduct. These causes may bring about the development of criminal behavior

1) EMILE DURKHEIM
- one of the founding scholars of sociology
- published a book, “Division of Social Labor”, which became a landmark
work on the organization of societies
- according to him:
a) crime is as normal a part of society as birth and death
b) crime is part of human nature because it has existed during periods
of both poverty and prosperity
c) as long as human differences exists, which is one of the
fundamental conditions of society, it is but natural and expected
that it will result to criminality
- one of his profound contributions to contemporary criminology is the
concept of anomie, the breakdown of social order as a result of loss
of standards and values
- according to him, the explanation of human conduct and human
misconduct lies not in the individual himself but in the group and social
organization

2) GABRIEL TARDE
- introduced the Theory of Imitation, which governs the process by which
people become criminals
-
 according to him, individuals emulate behavior patterns in much the same
way that they copy styles of dress
- the Theory of Imitation is explained by the following patterns:
a) Pattern 1: individuals imitate others in proportion to the intensity
and frequency of their contact
b) Pattern 2: inferiors imitate superiors
c) Pattern 3: when two behavior patterns clash, one may take the
place of the other

3) ADOLPHE QUETELET
- he repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists
- he founded what is known as the CARTHOGRAPHIC SCHOOL OF
CRIMINOLOGY, together with ANDRE MICHAEL GUERRY
- this study used social statistical data and provided important demographic
information on the population, including density, gender, religious
affiliations and social economic status
- he gathered data to investigate the influence of social factors on the
commission of crimes
- he found a strong influence of age, sex, climate condition, population
composition and economic status in criminality

4) ENRICO FERRI
- a member of the Italian parliament
- he believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because
they did not choose to commit crimes but was driven to commit them by
conditions of their lives

SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND CRIME CAUSATIONS

The study of sociology provides many ideas and opinions that help in
understanding why a person becomes a criminal.

SOCIAL NORMS
- also called rules of conduct
- shared standard of behavior which in turn require certain expectations of
behavior in a given situation
- socially accepted and expected behavior or conduct in society
- set of rules that govern an individuals behavior and actions

SOCIALIZATION
- refers to the learning process by which a person learns and internalizes
the ways of society so that he can function and become an active part of
society

CULTURE
- refers to the system of values and meanings shared by a group of
individuals including the embodiment of those values and meanings in a
material object
- refers to the way of life, modes of thinking, acting and feeling
- it is a design of living that is transmitted from one generation to the next

MODERN EXPLANATIONS OF CRIMES AND CRIMINAL

BEHAVIOR

A) SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES

1) SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY
- focuses on the conditions within the urban environment that affect crime rates
- links crime rate to neighborhood ecological characteristics
- views crime-ridden neighborhoods as those in which residents are uninterested in
community matters, therefore, the common sources of control – family, school,
church, barangay authorities – are weak and disorganized
- also called differential social organization

2) STRAIN THEORY
- holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and the
means they can use to legally obtain them
- argues that the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent: members of the
lower class are unable to achieve these goals which come easily to those belonging
to the upper class
- consequently, they feel anger, frustration and resentment, referred to as STRAIN
- the commission of crimes with the aim of achieving these goals result from this
conflict

3) CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY

- combines the elements of both strain and disorganization theories
- theorizes that in order to cope with social isolation and economic deprivation,
members of the lower class create an independent subculture with its own set of
rules and values

B) SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES

1) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

- believes that crime is a product of learning the norms, values and behaviors
associated with criminal activity

a) DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY

- formulated by Edwin Sutherland
- believes that criminality is a function of a learning process that could affect
any individual in any culture
- his theory is outlined as follows:
i. criminal behavior is learned;
ii. criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a
process of communication;
iii. the principal part of learning of criminal behavior occurs within an
intimate personal group;
iv. when criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes techniques in
committing the crimes which are sometimes very simple, the specific
direction of motives, drives, rationalization and attitudes;
v. the process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal
and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are
involved in any other learning

b) DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT THEORY

- according to this theory, people strike a balance between being “all-deviant”
and “all-conforming”
- behavior persists depending on the degree to which it was rewarded or
punished

2) SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY

- maintains that all people have the potential to violate the law and that modern society
presents many opportunities for illegal activities
- argues that people obey the law because behavior and passions are being controlled
by internal and external forces

3) SOCIAL REACTION THEORY

- also called LABELING THEORY
- holds that people enter into law-violating careers when they are labeled for their acts
and organize their personalities around the labels
- negative labels have dramatic influence on the self-image of offenders