MODULE 4

SPECIAL TOPICS FOR CRIM 1

NAME: BAJEN, MICHAEL JAN A.
BLOCK: 3B
SUBJECT CODE: CR - 634
SCHEDULE: MTH 5:30 – 7:00

EXPLORE
1. Which among the schools of thought in criminology you consider to be
very important and why?
Ans. The Classical Criminology. Classical Criminology uses the idea of free will
to explain that offenders choose to engage in crime and that the best way to
control crime is to deter offenders and make it uncomfortable or unprofitable for
them to offend. He/she believes that all human beings are rational beings and
that they possess free will, the capacity to choose between right or wrong. Thus,
if a person commits a crime even if he knows that it is wrong, then he/she should
be punished.
Classicism defines the main object of study as the offence. The nature of the
offender was defined as being free-willed, rational, calculating and normal. The
classical thinking response to the crime was to give punishment that is
proportionate to the offence. This could be why the classical school of
criminology has been so influential and still is, because it protects various
organizations set out to remove crime and it also provides a good theoretical
basis on which more recent theories have been developed.

ASSESS
1. Determine what schools of thought in criminology can be applied in the
following scenarios:
a) Hailey stabbed her classmate in the back using a ballpoint pen when they had
an argument about their favorite celebrities and was exempted from
punishment.
Ans.: Neo-Classical Criminology

b) James stole a pair of shoes in the department store even if he knew that he
didn’t have money to pay for it.
Ans.: Classical Criminology

c) Adelaide steals goods in the market in order to provide for her family who
suffers extreme poverty.
Ans.: Positivist Criminology