MODULE 2

Lesson’s Objective:

1. Discuss the historical overview of crime causation by different philisophy.

2. Explain the Demonological theory.
3. Identify the advocates of the Classical theory and;
4. Discuss their contributions to the theory.

THE EARLY BEGINNINGS

Crime Causation: Its Historical Overview

Antique Philosophy (4th Century BC)

Aristotle offers a philosophical standpoint on crime causation who stated that the crime is
poverty related describing poverty as a mother of all revolutions and crimes.

Medieval Philosophy (17th century)

According to Francis Bacon, criminality will depend on social situations. He described his
standpoint in this sentence: “Opportunity makes a thief”. Bacon pointed out that human behavior
will depend on situations.

French Renaissance Philosophy (18th century)

The famous encyclopedists Voltaire and Rousseau introduce the concept of free will. Crime is
the same as hedonistic behavior and failure the social contract obligations.

Bringing back the thoughts during the 16th and 17th century, people are thought of being
possessed by
demons or evil spirits when they commit crimes and deviant behavior. Their belief influences the
way they treat the wrong doers hence they are into the practice of exorcism and banishment.

DEMONOLOGICAL THEORY
● Individuals were thought to be possessed by good or evil spirits, which caused good or evil
behavior.
● This theory maintains that criminal behavior was believed to be the result of evil spirits and
and demons that controls his/her behavior.
 ● Guilt and innocence were established by a variety of procedures that presumably called forth
the supernatural alies of the accused.
● The accused were innocent if they could survive the an ordeal, or if miraculous signs
appeared.
● They were guilty if they died at stake, or if omens wereassociated with them.

THE PRE- TWENTIETH CENTURY (18th Century – 1738 – 1798)

● In the eighteenth century, criminological literature, whether psychological, sociological, or
psychiatric in bent, has traditionally been divided into three broad schools of thoughts
about the crime: the classical, neo- classical, positivist schools of criminology.

THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL

● The Classical School of Criminology is a broad label for a group of thinkers of crime and
punishment in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
● Prominent members, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, they both shared the idea that
criminal behavior could be understood and controlled as an outcome of a “human nature”
shared by all humans.
● Human beings were believed to be hedonistic, acting in terms of their own self- interest, but
rational, capable of considering which course of action was really in their self- interest.
Major Principles of Classical School
● Human beings are fundamentally rational, and most human behavior is the result of free will
coupled with rational choice.
● Pain and pleasure are the two central determinants of human behavior.
● Punishment, necessary evil, is sometimes required to deter law violators and to serve as an
example to others who would also violates the law.
● The root principles of right and wrong are inherent in the nature of things, and cannot be
denied.
● Society exist to provide benefits to individuals which they would not receive in isolation.
● When men and women band together for the protection offered by society, they forfeit some
of the benefits which may result from living in isolation.
● Certain key rights of individuals are inherent in the nature of things, and governments which
contravene those rights should be disbanded.
● Crime is a result of the quality of bond that exists between individuals and society, and is
therefore an immoral of behavior.
ADVOCATES OF CLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY

1. CESARE, MARQUIS DE BECCARIA- BONESANA

● an Italian philosopher and economist best
known for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments.
● He was born on March 15, 1738 in Milan Italy.
● His essay On Crimes and Punishments had a
great success and practical impact in many countries on the
principles of penal reforms and human rights as it discussed
issues, government (crime and human rights), and had a large
and lasting impact on the American Constitution, the Bill of
rights which subsequently influenced our own criminal justice
system.
● He was considered as the “FATHER of the
Classical Criminal Theory”.

The three main points in which Beccaria’s theory rests. They

are:
a. Freewill – Beccaria like other classical theorist, believe that all individuals have freewill
and make choices on that freewill.
b. Rationality - which means that all individuals rationally look out for their own personal
satisfaction. This is a key to the relationship between laws and crime. While individuals will
rationally look for their best interest, and this might entail deviant acts and the laws, which
goal is to preserve the social contract, will try to stop deviant acts.
c. Manipulability – which means that universally shared human motive of rational self-
interest makes human action predictable, generable and controllable.
⮚ According to Beccaria -- and most classical theorists -- free will enables people to make
choices. Beccaria believed that people have a rational manner and apply it toward making
choices that will help them achieve their own personal gratification.
⮚ In Beccaria’s interpretation, law exists to preserve the social contract and benefit society as a
whole. But, because people act out of self-interest and their interest sometimes conflicts with
societal laws, they commit crimes. The principle of manipulability refers to the predictable
ways in which people act out of rational self-interest and might therefore be dissuaded from
committing crimes if the punishment outweighs the benefits of the crime, rendering the crime
an illogical choice.
⮚ In "On Crimes and Punishments," Beccaria identified a pressing need to reform the criminal
justice system, citing the then-present system as barbaric and antiquated. He went on to
discuss how specific laws should be determined, who should make them, what they should
be like and whom they should benefit. He emphasized the need for adequate but just
punishment, and went so far as to explain how the system should define the appropriate
punishment for each type of crime.

2. JEREMY BENTHAM
● Was an English philosopher and lawyer best
known for the theory of Utilitarianism.
● Considered as the “Father of Utilitarianism”.
● One of his projects was in prison design. He
planned the panopticon prison, a design which allows a
watchman to observe (opticon) all (pan) inmates of an
institution without them being able to tell whether or not they
are being watched.
Theory of utilitarianism is a philosophy which states that a
moral act is one which produces the greatest happiness for the
greatest number of people.
⮚ He is primarily known today for his moral philosophy, especially his principle of
utilitarianism, which evaluates actions based upon their consequences. The relevant
consequences, in particular, are the overall happiness created for everyone affected by the
action. Happiness, according to Bentham, is thus a matter of experiencing pleasure and lack
of pain.