Professional Documents
Culture Documents
RA 6506 – an Act creating the Board of Examiners for Criminologists in the Philippines and other purposes
Approved and became effective on July 1, 1972.
RA 11131- Philippine Criminology Profession Act of 2018
- An act regulating practice of Criminology Professions in the Philippines, and approving funds therefore, repealing for
the purpose of RA 6506
RA 10912 – Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016 (CPD Law)
- the law aims to promote and upgrade the practice of professions in the country and to continuously improve the
competence of professionals in accordance with the international standards of practice.
PROFESSIONAL CRIMINOLOGIST ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (PCAP) – the legitimate organization of
Criminologists recognized by the Professional Regulation Commission.
Philippine Educators Association for Criminology Education (PEACE) – created on January 13-25, 1983
primarily to professionalize criminology education in the context of National development.
Registered Criminologist – refers to a natural person who holds a valid certificate of registration and an updated
professional identification card as criminologist issued by the Board and the Commission pursuant to RA 11131.
CRIMINOLOGY
according to Edwin H. Sutherland, “criminology is the entire body of knowledge regarding crime as a social
phenomenon. It includes within its scope the process of making of laws, of breaking of laws, and the society’s
reaction towards the breaking of laws.”
refers to the scientific study of crimes, criminals and victims, it also deals with the prevention and solution of crimes
(RA 11131, The Philippine Criminology Act of 2018)
Origin of the word “Criminology
Etymologically, the term criminology came from the Latin word “crimen” meaning accusation and Greek word
“Logia” which means “to study”.
In 1885, Rafael Garofalo, an Italian Law Professor coined the term criminologia.
In 1887, Paul Topinard, French Anthropologist, used the term criminology in French criminologie for the first time
Sociology – is the mother discipline of Criminology. It is the study of human society, its origin, structure, functions
and direction.
Is criminology a science?
According to George Wilker, criminology cannot become a science because it has not yet acquired universal
validity. Edwin H. Sutherland, the Dean of Modern Criminology, hoped that it will become a science in the
future since the causes of crimes are almost the same which may be biological, environmental or
combination of the two.
Nature of Criminology
1. It is applied science because criminology as a body of knowledge has already established universally
accepted principles and concepts and these are used by other field of study. (INSTRUMENTATION)
2. It is a social science because it studies crime as a social phenomenon. Crime is a social problem
which has a great impact to society.
3. It is dynamic because the concepts of criminology and their applications adapt to the changing time.
4. It is nationalistic because the study of criminology takes into consideration the history, the culture and
the social norms and the laws of the country. Each country has its own set of laws and crimes are defined by
the laws of the country.
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3. Study of the other sciences that examine criminal behavior using scientific methods such as:
criminal demography – the study of the relationship between criminality and population
criminal epidiomology – the study of the relationship between environment and criminality
criminal ecology – the study of criminality in relation to the spatial distribution in a community
criminal physical anthropology – the study of criminality in relation to physical constitution of men
criminal psychology – the study of human behavior in relation to criminality
criminal psychiatry – the study of human mind in relation to criminality
victimology – the study of the role of the victim in the commission of a crime.
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 liberty 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.
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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.
Utilitarianism
– is a philosophy which argues that what is right is the one that would cause the greatest good for the
greatest number of people.
- others refer to it as the greatest happiness principle or the principle of utility.
- from this principle, Bentham formulated the “felicific calculus”.
Felicific Calculus or the pleasure-and-pain principle – is a theory that proposes that individuals calculate
the consequences of his actions by weighing the pleasure (gain) and the pain (suffering) he would derive
from doing the action.
3. 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.
August Comte
- He was a French philosopher and sociologist and is believed to be the one who reinvented the French term
sociologie.
- he was recognized as the “Father of Sociology and Positivism”.
THE (UN) HOLY THREE (3) OF CRIMINOLOGY
1. Cesare Lombroso
2. Enricco Ferri
3. Raffaelle Garofalo
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Cesare Lombroso
- recognized as the “Father of Modern and Empirical Criminology” due to his application of modern scientific
methods to trace criminal behavior, however, most of his ideas are now discredited
- known for the concept of atavistic stigmata (the physical features of creatures at an earlier stage of
development).
- he claimed that criminals are distinguishable from non-criminals due to the presence of atavistic stigmata
and crimes committed by those who are born with certain recognizable heredity 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 aquiline 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:
born criminals – individuals with at least five (5) atavistic stigmata
insane criminals – those who became criminals because of some brain defect which affected their ability to
understand and differentiate what is right from what is wrong.
criminaloids - those with makeup of an ambiguous group that includes habitual criminals, criminals by
passion and other diverse types
Enricco Ferri
he focused his study on the influences of psychological factors and sociological factors such as
economics, on crimes.
He believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did not choose to commit
crimes, but rather were driven to commit crimes by conditions in their lives.
Physiognomy – the study of facial features and their relation to human behavior.
Giambiatista dela Porta
- founder of human physiognomy
- according to him criminal behavior may be predicted based on facial features of the person.
Johann Kaspar Lavater
- supported the belief of dela Porta
- he believed that a person’s character is revealed through his facial characteristics.
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b. Phrenology, Craniology or Cranioscopy – the study of the external formation of the skull in relation to
the person’s personality and tendencies toward criminal behavior.
Franz Joseph Gall
◦ he developed cranioscopy which was later renamed as phrenology.
Johann Kaspar Spurzheim
◦ assistant of Gall in the study of phrenology.
◦ he was the man most responsible for popularizing and spreading phrenology to a wide audience
C. Physiology or Somatotype – refers to the study of body build of a person in relation to his temperament
and personality and the type of offense he is most prone to commit.
Ernst Kretschmer
◦ he distinguished three (3) principal types of physiques: asthenic, athletic, pyknik and dysplastic.
asthenic – characterized as thin, small and weak.
athletic – muscular and strong.
pyknic – stout, round and fat.
dysplastic – combination of two body types
William Herbert Sheldon
o formulated his own group of somatotype: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph.
ectomorph – tall and thin and less social and more intellectual than the other types.
mesomorph – have well-developed muscles and an athletic appearance.
endomorph – heavy builds and slow moving
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.
3. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
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refers to the theories that attribute criminal behavior of individuals to psychological factors, such
as emotion and mental problems.
a. Sigmund Freud
- he is recognized as the FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
- known for his psychoanalytic theory
- according to him, criminality is caused by the imbalance of the three (3) components of
personality: the id, the ego, and the superego.
- according to him there are three parts of personality:
1. ID – this stands for instinctual drives; the primitive part of the individual’s mental make-up
present at birth; it is governed by the “pleasure principle”; represents the unconscious
biological drives for pleasure.
2. 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
3. SUPEREGO – serves as the moral conscience of an individual; 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. It is divided into two parts:
conscience (tells what is right or wrong) and ego ideal (directs the individual to morally
acceptable and responsible behaviors, which may not be pleasurable).
4. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- 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.
a. Emile Durkheim
- he stated that crime is a normal part of the society just like birth and death.
- proposed the concept of “anomie” or the absence of social norms. It is characterized by
disorder due to lack of common values shared by individuals, lack of respect for authority and
lack of appreciation for what is acceptable and not acceptable in a society.
b. Gabriel Tarde
- introduced the theory of imitation which proposes the process by which people become
criminals.
- according to this theory, individuals imitate the behavior of other individuals based on the
degree of their association with other individuals and it is inferior or weak who tend to imitate the
superior and strong.
c. Adolphe Quetelet and Andre Michael Guerry
- He repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists
- founder of cartographic school of criminology.
- founder of moral statistics.
- cartographic school of criminology made use of statistical data such as population, age, gender,
occupation, religious affiliations and social economic status and studies their influences and
relationship to criminality.
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MODERN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION
- environmental factors such as the kind of rearing or family upbringing, quality of teaching in
school, influences of peers and friends, conditions of the neighborhood, and economic and other
societal factors are believed to be contributory to crime and criminal behavior.
1. SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES
- refers not only to the physical features of the communities but also to the way society is
organized.
- include such things as level of poverty and unemployment and the amount of crowded housing
which are believed to affect behavior and attitudes of individuals which in turn contribute to their
commission of crimes.
- also called social environment
- includes social disorganization theory, strain theory and cultural deviance theory.
b. Strain Theory
strain refers the individual’s frustration, anger and resentment.
holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and the means they
can use to legally obtain them. This also 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.
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according to this theory, individual’s behavior depends on how people around him react toward s
his behavior.
an act that is rewarded is repeated; an act that is punished will be avoided.
c. Neutralization Theory
introduced by David Matza and Gresham Sykes.
sometimes referred to as “drift theory”
according to this theory, people know when they are doing something wrong, however, they
rationalize and justify their actions. This rationalizing is what we called “neutralization”.
a. Containment Theory
proposed by Walter Reckless
he stated that inner and outer containments help prevent juvenile offending.
containment means the forces within and outside the individual that has the power to influence
his actions.
inner containments include positive self-concept, tolerance for frustration and an ability to set
realistic goals.
outer containments include family.
CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES
LEGAL CLASSIFICATIONS:
1. According to law violated
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a. 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
b. Offense – an act or omission in violation of a special law
c. Infraction – an act or omission in violation of a city or municipal ordinance
4. According to plurality:
a. Simple Crime – is a 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
Two (2) Kinds of Complex Crime:
1. compound crime (delito compuesto)
2. complex crime proper (delito complejo)
5. According to gravity:
a. Grave felonies - are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which
in any of their period are afflictive.
b. Less grave felonies - are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum
period are correctional.
c. Light felonies - are infraction of laws for the commission of which the penalty of arresto menor
or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both is provided.
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b. Crimes mala prohibita – are acts which are prohibited only because there are laws forbidding
such acts. Examples are Illegal Possession of firearms, Traffic Violations, etc.
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
CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIMINALS
1. According to etiology
a. Acute criminal – is a person who committed crime as a result of reacting to a situation or
during a moment of anger or burst of feeling.
b. Chronic criminal – is one who committed a crime with intent or deliberated thinking.
c. Neurotic criminal – is one who has mental disorder.
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d. Normal criminal – a person who commits crimes because he looks up to, idolizes people who
are criminals.
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
2) THE HITTITES
- the Hittites existed about two centuries after Hammurabi and eventually conquered Babylon
- Capital punishment was used fore many offenses, except homicide or robbery
- rape, sexual intercourse with animals, defiance of the authority and sorcery were all punishable
by death
- 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
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- 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
-The thief was required to return stolen property and pay the victim 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
CRIMINAL LAW
– is that branch of public law which defines crimes treats of their nature and provides for their
punishment.
Revised Penal Code or Act No. 3815
– book that contains the Philippine Criminal Law and different special laws and decrees which are
penal in nature. It is called as RPC because the old penal code which took effect in the country
on July 14, 1887 and was in force until Dec. 31, 1931 was revised by the Committee created by
Administrative Order No. 94 of the Department of Justice, dated Oct. 18, 1927, composed of
Anacleto Diaz as Chairman, Alex Reyes and Mariano de Joya as members.The RPC was
approved on Dec. 8, 1930 and took effect on January 1, 1932.
2. Territoriality - the RPC is applicable to felonies committed within the Philippine territorial
jurisdiction.
a. Philippine archipelago – all the islands that comprise the Philippines
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b. Atmosphere water – all bodies of water that connect all the islands such as bays, rivers and
streams
c. Maritime zone – the twelve (12) Nautical Mile limit beyond our shore measured at low tide
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.
CRIME STATISTICS
refers to the measure of the level or amount of crimes.
The collection or study of numerical data of crimes recorded/reported to the police.
it uses the terms index crimes and non-index crimes in classifying crimes.
Index crimes are crimes which are sufficiently significant and which occur with sufficient
regularity to be meaningful, such as murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft and rape.
Non-index crimes are crimes that are not classified as index crimes. Violations of special laws
and other crimes against moral and order. These crimes are generated from the result of positive
police initiated operations.
STATISTICAL FORMULA:
1. Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE) – percentage of solved cases out of the total number of
reported crime incidents handled by the police for a given period of time. It is a general measure
of law enforcement agency’s investigative capability or efficiency.
Formula:
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CSE = {¿ TotalNoNo. of. ofSolved
¿ Reported Cases }
Cases X 100
2. Crime Rate – the number of incidents in a given period of time for every 100, 000 inhabitants
of an area/place.
Formula:
{ }
Crime Volume
CR = ¿¿ X 100 , 000
Population
3. Average Monthly Crime Rate (AMCR) – the average number of crime incidents occurred per
month for every 100, 000 inhabitants in a certain area.
Formula:
{ }
Crime Volume
AMCR = ¿¿ X 100 , 000 ÷ no . of months
Population
4. Variance (or % change) – one way of analyzing crime trends. It measures the percentage
change over a given period of time.
Formula:
{ }
Current data−previous data
= ¿¿ X 100
previous data
5. Crime Analysis
a. Percentage Share of Crime Volume of a Certain Area
Formula:
= {Crime
¿ Crime Volume Nationwide }
¿
volume of a certain area X 100
There are circumstances provided by the RPC that affect criminal liability of the offender. These
circumstances can increase, decrease or extinguish the penalty imposable. They are called
justifying exempting, mitigating aggravating ang alternative circumstances.
Justifying circumstances- are those where the act of a person is said to be in accordance with
law, so that such person is deemed not to have transgressed the law and is free from both
criminal and civil liability.
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Exempting circumstances- are those grounds for exemption from punishment because there is
lacking in the agent of the crime any of the conditions which make the act voluntary or negligent.
Mitigating circumstances- are those which, if present in the commission of the crime, do not
entirely free the actor from criminal liability, but serve only to reduce the penalty.
Aggravating circumstances- are those which, if attendant in the commission of the crime, serve
to increase the penalty without however, exceeding the maximum of the penalty provided by law
for the offense.
And finally, Alternative circumstances- are those which must be taken into consideration as
aggravating or mitigating according to the nature and effects of the crime and other conditions
attending to commission.
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