SOCIOLOGY OF CRIME AND ETHICS In as much as crime is a social creation, that it

INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY and PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIMES (CRIM exists in a society being a social phenomenon, its study
1) must be considered a part of social science.

CRIMINOLOGY
- the entire body of knowledge regarding crimes,
criminals and the efforts of society to prevent 3) It is dynamic.
and repress them Criminology changes as social condition changes. It
- a body of knowledge regarding delinquency and is concomitant with the advancement of other sciences that
crime as a social phenomenon; it includes within have been applied to it.
its scope, the making of laws, the breaking of 4) It is nationalistic.
laws and the reactions toward the breaking of laws The study of crimes must be in relation with the
(Edwin Sutherland) existing criminal law within a territory or country. The
- the scientific study of the causes of crime in question as to whether an act is a crime is dependent on
relation to man and society who set and define the criminal law of a state. It follows therefore that the
rules and regulations for himself and others to causes of crime must be determined from its social needs
govern and standards.
- the study of crimes, causes of crimes, the meaning
of crime in terms of law and community reaction to SCOPE OF THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY
crime
- the study that aims to explain the connection 1) study of the origin and development of criminal law
between crime and the personal characteristics of 2) study of the causes of crimes and development of
the offender including his environment criminals.
3) study of the different factors that enhances the
The scientific study of crimes and criminals is development of criminal behavior, such as:
extended in three basic lines: a) criminal demography – the study of the
relationship between criminality and population
1) nature of criminal law and its administration b) criminal epidiomology – the study of the
2) causes of crimes and behavior of criminals relationship between environment and
3) control of crimes and rehabilitation of offenders criminality
c) criminal ecology – the study of criminality in
NATURE OF CRIMINOLOGY relation to the spatial distribution in a
community
1) It is an applied science. d) criminal physical anthropology – the study of
In the study of the causes of crimes, anthropology, criminality in relation to physical
psychology, sociology and other natural sciences may be constitution of men
applied. While in crime detection, chemistry, medicine, e) criminal psychology – the study of human
physics, mathematics, ballistics, polygraphy, questioned behavior in relation to criminality
document examination may be utilized. This is called f) criminal psychiatry – the study of human mind
instrumentation. in relation to criminality
2) It is a social science. g) victimology – the study of the role of the
victim in the commission of a crime
CRIME o when the person acted on his own accord,
- an act or omission in violation of a public law without irresistible force and/or
forbidding or commanding it uncontrollable fear
2) intelligence
TRIANGLE OF CRIME/ELEMENTS OF CRIME o when the person who committed the crime has the
1) DESIRE ability to determine what is right from what is
2) CAPABILITY/ABILITY wrong and to realize the consequences of one’s
3) OPPORTUNITY act
3) intent
CRIME OF COMMISSION o when the person knowingly and purposely
- an act that is in violation of a law forbidding it committed the crime to effect the desired
- performing an act that is prohibited by law result

CRIME OF OMISSION b) CULPABLE FELONIES:

- an act that is in violation of a law commanding it - felonies committed by means of culpa (fault)
- failure to perform an act that is commanded by law - the act or omission of the offender is not
malicious and the injury caused by the offender
ACT is unintentional, it being simply the incident
- any action with outward manifestation of another act performed without malice
- overt and physical action done in pursuance and 1) imprudence
manifestation of a criminal design or intent o deficiency in action; failure to take the
necessary precaution to prevent the danger due
SUB-CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES to carelessness
2) negligence
1) FELONY o deficiency in perception; failure to foresee
- an act or omission punishable by law which is the danger
committed by means of dolo (deceit) or culpa 3) lack of foresight
(fault)and punishable under the Revised Penal Code o when the crime resulted due to the person’s
2) OFFENSE inability to predict the obvious possible
- an act or omission in violation of a special law outcome of his actions
3) INFRACTION 4) lack of skill
- an act or omission in violation of a city or o when the crime resulted because the person does
municipal ordinance not have the necessary skill to perform the
action safely
ELEMENTS OF A FELONY
LEGAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES
a) INTENTIONAL FELONIES:
- felonies committed by means of dolo (deceit) 1) as to the manner crimes are committed:
- the act or omission is performed with a) by means of dolo or deceit
deliberate intent or malice b) by means of culpa or fault
1) freedom or voluntariness
2) as to the stages in the commission of crimes:
 a) consummated crime – when all the elements 2) according to the time or period of the commission of
necessary for its execution and accomplishment the crime:
are present a) seasonal crime – committed only during a
b) frustrated crime – when the offender has certain period of the year
performed all the acts of execution which will b) situational crime – committed only when the
produce the felony as a consequence but which situation is conducive to its commission
nevertheless do not produce it, by reason of 3) according to the length of time of the commission of
causes independent of the will of the the crime:
perpetrator a) instant crime – committed in the shortest
possible time
c) attempted crime - when the offender commences b) episoidal crime – committed by a series of acts
the commission of a crime directly by overt in a lengthy space of time
acts and does not perform all the acts of 4) according to the place or location:
execution which should produce the felony by a) static crime – committed in only one place
reason of some cause or accident other than his b) continuing crime – committed in several places
own spontaneous desistance 5) according to the use of mental faculties:
a) rational crime – committed with intent and the
3) according to plurality: offender is in full possession of his sanity
a) simple crime – single act constituting only one b) irrational crime – committed by an offender who
offense does not know the nature and quality of his act
b) complex crime – single act constituting two or on account of the disease of the mind
more grave felonies or an act is a necessary means 6) according to the type of offender:
for committing the other (ex. Robbery with a) white-collar crime – committed by a person
Homicide, Robbery with Rape, belonging to the upper socio-economic class in
the course of his occupational activities
4) according to gravity: b) blue-collar crime – committed by ordinary
a) grave felonies – those to which the law professional criminal to maintain his
attaches the capital punishment or livelihood
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 CRIME STATISTICS
not exceeding P200.00 - attempts to provide a statistical measure of the
level, or amount of, crime that is prevalent in
CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES societies
- usually refers to figures compiled by the police
1) according to the result of the crime: and similar law enforcement agencies
a) acquisitive crime – the offender acquires
something INDEX CRIMES
b) extinctive crime – the consequence of the act - crimes which are sufficiently significant and
is destructive which occur with sufficient regularity to be
 meaningful, such as murder, homicide, physical b.1) neurotic criminals – persons whose
injury, robbery, theft and rape actions arise from the intra-psychic
conflict between the social and anti-
NON-INDEX CRIMES social components of his personality
- all types of crimes not considered as index crimes b.2) normal criminals – persons whose psychic
organization resembles that of a normal
CRIME RATE individual except that he identifies
- measure of the rate of occurrence of crimes himself with criminal prototype
committed in a given area and time 2) on the basis of behavioral system:
- the number of crimes committed among a given a) ordinary criminals – the lowest form of
number of persons criminal career; they engage only in
- the number of crimes committed per 100,000 conventional crimes which require limited skill
population b) organized criminals – these criminals have a
- stated mathematically: high degree of organization that enables them
to commit crimes without being detected and
number of crimes committed to specialized activities which can
crime rate = _______________________ X be operated in large scale businesses
100,000 c) professional criminals – these are highly
skilled and able to obtain considerable amount
total number of population of money without being detected because of
organization and contact with other
professional criminals
CRIME INCIDENCE 3) on the basis of activities:
- the number of crimes reported as to index or non- a) professional criminals – those who earn their
index within a given period living through criminal activities
b) accidental criminals – those who commit
CRIMINAL criminal acts as a result of unanticipated
- in the legal sense, a criminal is any person who circumstances
has been found to have committed a wrongful act in c) habitual criminals – those who continue to
the course of the standard judicial process; there commit criminal acts for such diverse reasons
must be a final verdict of his guilt due to deficiency of intelligence and lack of
- in the criminological sense, a person is already control
considered a criminal the moment he committed a d) situational criminals – those who are actually
crime not criminals but get in trouble with legal
authorities because they commit crimes
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS intermixed with legitimate economic activities

1) on the basis of etiology: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF CRIMINAL LAW

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:
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 (ACT 3815)
- 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 three (3) 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
term “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
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
ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT OF POSITIVISM
During the nineteenth century, the first social
scientists began to apply the scientific method to the
study of society. August Comte described how as society
progressed, people embraced a rational, scientific view of
the world. He called this final stage the positive stage
of human social development, and those who followed his
writings became known as positivists. Those who embraced
positivism relied on the strict use of empirical methods –
factual, firsthand observations, and measurement of
conditions and events – to test hypotheses.
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.
(UN)HOLY THREE OF CRIMINOLOGY
CESARE LOMBROSO, ENRICO FERRI and RAFAELLE GAROFALO
AUGUST COMPTE
- considered the FATHER OF POSITIVIST SCHOOL OF
CRIMINOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
- applied scientific methods in the study of society
from where he adopted the word “sociology”
- his work prompted scientific studies of human
social behavior
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 studied 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 dominance of skin and its prone to
school of criminology: allergies, skin appendages which includes
troubles, chronic
1) ERNST KRETCHMER the nervous system; it has fatigue,
- he correlated body build and constitution with insomnia, sen-
characters or temperamental reactions and mentality fragile and delicate bones; sitive skin and
- he distinguished three (3) principal types of sensi-
physiques: with droopy shoulders, small tive to noise
a) asthenic – lean, slightly built, narrow face and sharp nose, fine hair
shoulders; their crimes are petty thievery and and with relatively small body
fraud
b) athletic – medium to tall, strong, muscular, HEREDITY AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY
coarse bones; they are usually connected with
crimes of violence 1) RICHARD DUGDALE
c) pyknic – medium height, rounded figures, - he studied the lives of the members of the JUKES
massive neck, broad face; they tend to commit FAMILY and referred to ADA JUKES as the MOTHER OF
deception, fraud and violence CRIMINALS
- he discovered that from among the descendants of Ada
2) WILLIAM SHELDON Jukes, there were 280 paupers, 60 thieves, 7
- formulated his own group of somatotype: murderers, 40 other criminals, 40 persons with
venereal diseases and 50 prostitutes
TYPE OF PHYSIQUE TEMPERAMENT - he claimed that since families produce generations of
criminals, they must have been transmitting
a) endomorphic - relatively large viscerotonic – degenerate traits down the line
generally
digestive viscera; round body; relax and 2) HENRY GODDARD
comfortable - he studied the lives of the KALLIKAK FAMILY and found
short, tapering limbs; small person, loves that among the descendants from MARTIN KALLIKAK’s
luxury and bones; smooth, velvety skin essentially relationship with a feeble-minded lady, there were
extrovert 143 feeble-minded and only 46 normal, 36 were
illegitimate, 3 epileptics, 3 criminals, 8 kept
b) mesomorphic – with relative romotonic – brothels and 82 died of infancy; his marriage with a
active, woman from a good family produced almost all normal
predominance of muscles, bones dynamic; walks, descendants, only 2 were alcoholics, 1 was convicted
talks of religious offense, 15 died at infancy and no one
and motor organs of the body and gestures became criminal or epileptic
assertively with large wrist and hands and
behaves aggressively INTELLIGENCE AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY

c) ectomorphic – relative pre- cerebrotonic – The classic studies of the Juke and Kallikak families
introvert 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. PSYCHOLOGICAL 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. 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
- this position holds that criminals are driven by
unconscious thought patterns, developed in early
childhood, that control behaviors over the life
course
- some people encounter problems during their early
development that cause an imbalance in their
personality
- crime is a manifestation of feelings of oppression
and people’s inability to develop the proper
psychological defenses to keep these feelings under
control
2) RAFAELLE GAROFALO
- proposed that people commit crime due to some psychic
or MORAL ANOMALY, a deficiency in moral sensibilities
- he believed that certain people are morally less
developed than others due to environmental,
circumstantial and organic reasons

TYPE OF MENTAL DISORDERS
1) NEUROSIS
- a common type of mental disorder used to explain
criminal behavior
- also referred to as hysteria or neurasthenia
2) PSYCHOSIS
- 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; a condition
marked by incoherent thought process and lack
of insight
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
DELUSIONS OF REFERENCE – a false belief that
everybody is always talking about you
CRIMINAL PERSONALITY
- studies show that aggressive youth have unstable
personality structures often marked by hyperactivity,
impulsiveness and instability
PSYCHOPATHICPERSONALITY OR
ANTISOCIAL /SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY
- believed to be dangerous, aggressive, antisocial
individuals who act in callous manner, who neither
learn from their mistakes nor are deterred by
punishment
- they lack emotional depth, are incapable of caring
for others, and maintain an abnormally low level of
anxiety
- they lack moral conscience, and therefore they have
no concept of what is right and wrong and legal and
illegal
C) SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
Sociological factors refer 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, “The Division of Labor in Society”,
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
- his ideas had become what is known as the ANOMIE - he proposed that the commission of a crime was caused
THEORY by a number of factors including physical (race,
geographics, temperature and climate),
2) GABRIEL TARDE anthropological (age, sex, organic and psychological)
- introduced the Theory of Imitation, which governs the and social (customs, religion, economics and
process by which people become criminals population density
- according to him, individuals emulate behavior
patterns in much the same way that they copy styles MODERN EXPLANATIONS OF CRIMES AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
of dress
- the Theory of Imitation is explained by the following A) SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES
patterns: - the view that a person’s position in the social
a) Pattern 1: individuals imitate others in structure controls behaviour
proportion to the intensity and frequency of - those in the lowest socioeconomic level are more
their contact likely to succumb to crime-causing elements in their
b) Pattern 2: inferiors imitate superiors environment
c) Pattern 3: when two behavior patterns clash, - whereas those in the highest level enjoy social and
one may take the place of the other economic advantages that protects them from crime-
producing forces
3) ADOLPHE QUETELET and ANDRE MICHAEL GUERRY
- he repudiated the free will doctrine of the 1) SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY
classicists - focuses on the conditions within the urban
- he founded what is known as the CARTHOGRAPHIC SCHOOL environment that affect crime rates
OF CRIMINOLOGY, together with ANDRE MICHAEL GUERRY - links crime rate to neighborhood ecological
- this study used social statistical data and provided characteristics
important demographic information on the population, - views crime-ridden neighborhoods as those in which
including density, gender, religious affiliations and residents are uninterested in community matters,
social economic status therefore, the common sources of control – family,
- he gathered data to investigate the influence of school, church, barangay authorities – are weak and
social factors on the commission of crimes disorganized
- he found a strong influence of age, sex, climate - also called differential social organization
condition, population composition and economic status
in criminality 2) STRAIN THEORY
- holds that crime is a function of the conflict
4) ENRICO FERRI between the goals people have and the means they can
- a member of the Italian parliament use to legally obtain them
- he believed that criminals could not be held morally - argues that the ability to obtain these goals is
responsible because they did not choose to commit class dependent: members of the lower class are
crimes but was driven to commit them by conditions of unable to achieve these goals which come easily to
their lives those belonging to the upper class
- a follower of Lombroso, who was actually the one who - consequently, they feel anger, frustration and
coined the term “born criminal” which was extensively resentment, referred to as STRAIN
used by Lombroso - the commission of crimes with the aim of achieving
these goals result from this conflict
 v. the process of learning criminal behavior
3) CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY by association with criminal and anti-
- combines the elements of both strain and criminal patterns involves all of the
disorganization theories mechanisms that are involved in any other
- theorizes that in order to cope with social isolation learning
and economic deprivation, members of the lower class
create an independent subculture with its own set of b) DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT THEORY
rules and values - according to this theory, people strike a
- criminal behavior is an expression of conformity to balance between being “all-deviant” and “all-
lower-class subcultural values conforming”
- behavior persists depending on the degree to
B) SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES which it was rewarded or punished
- maintains that people commit crimes as a result of
the experiences they have while they are being C) SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY
socialized by the various organizations, institutions - maintains that all people have the potential to
and processes of society violate the law and that modern society presents many
- points to the link between criminal behaviour and opportunities for illegal activities
family problems, such as inconsistent discipline, - argues that people obey the law because behavior and
poor supervision and lack of warm, loving, supportive passions are being controlled by internal and
parent-child relationship, as one essential factor in external forces
criminality - everyone has the potential to become a criminal but
- cites that educational experiences and socialization most people are controlled by their bond to society,
have significant impact on criminality and crime occurs when the forces that bind people to
society are weakened or broken
- assumes people are born “bad” and must be controlled
a) DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY
to be “good”
- formulated by Edwin Sutherland
- believes that criminality is a function of a D) SOCIAL REACTION THEORY
learning process that could affect any - also called LABELING THEORY
individual in any culture - holds that people enter into law-violating careers
- his theory is outlined as follows: when they are labeled for their acts and organize
i. criminal behavior is learned; their personalities around the labels
ii. criminal behavior is learned in - negative labels have dramatic influence on the self-
interaction with other persons in a image of offenders
process of communication; - says people become criminals when significant members
iii. the principal part of learning of of society label them as such and they accept those
criminal behavior occurs within an labels as a personal identity
intimate personal group; - assumes that whether “good” or “bad”, people are
iv. when criminal behavior is learned, the controlled by the reactions of others
learning includes techniques in
committing the crimes which are sometimes VICTIMOLOGY
very simple, the specific direction of - the study of victimization, including the
motives, drives, rationalization and relationships between victims and offenders, the
attitudes; interactions between victims and the criminal justice
 system -- that is, the police and courts, and
corrections officials -- and the connections between
victims and other societal groups and institutions,
such as the media, businesses, and social movements
- the study of the victims of crime, and especially of
the reasons why some people are more prone to be
victims
VICTIM/VICTIM OF CRIME/CRIME VICTIM
- the identifiable person who has been harmed
individually and directly by the perpetrator
VICTIM PATTERNS
- gender, age, marital status, income, victim-offender
relationships and ecology are some factors that
affect victimization risks
GENDER
- males are more likely to become victims of robbery
and assault
- females are more likely to be victims of sexual
assault
- when men are victims of violent crimes, the
perpetrator is usually described as a stranger
- females are more likely to be victimized by people
they know, like relatives, husbands or boyfriends
AGE
- young people face a much greater victimization risk
than older persons
- adolescents often stay out late at night, go to
public places and hang out in places where crime is
most likely to occur
- teens face a high victimization risk because they
spend a great deal of time in the presence of their
adolescent peers, the group most likely to commit
crimes
INCOME
- the poor are the most likely to become victims of
crimes because they live in areas that are crime
prone
MARITAL STATUS
- unmarried or never married people are victimized more
often than married people
- unmarried people tend to be younger, and young people
have the highest victim risk
- married people and widows have much lower
victimization rates because they interact with older
people and are more likely to stay home at night and
avoid public places
VICTIM-OFFENDER RELATIONSHIPS
- women seem much more likely than men to be victimized
by acquaintances; a majority of female assault
victims know their assailants
ECOLOGY
- most victimizations occur in large, urban areas
- rural and suburban victim rates are lower
- most incidents occur during the evening hours
- the most likely site for victimization is an open,
public area such as street, park, parking area and
the like
COMPILED FROM DIFFERENT REFERENCE MATERIALS BY:
JAMILLA GAY L ASALAN
Full-time Faculty, Philippine College of Criminology
Cum Laude, BS Criminology, 2003
Emilio Aguinaldo College-Manila, 2003
1st Placer, PRC Criminologist Licensure Examination
March 2004
Master of Science in Criminology
Major in Police Administration (thesis stage),
Emilio Aguinaldo College Graduate School