Har Krishen Jan V.

Peralta
BSCrim 1st year (ALPHA)
INTRO TO CRIMINOLOGY
Summary Paper

Introduction
Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals and their motivations
for criminal behavior. Psychopathology is the study of personality factors that are
somewhat out of regular conscious awareness and that lead to behavior outside the
norm in a particular social group. It studies abnormal emotional or personality
phenomena that underline symptoms or behavior. Psychopathology provides
criminology with methods to analyze elements of a criminal act within the personality
structure and aims to find out the motivations for the crime.
The sociology of law, which looks at how laws are made and enforced; criminal
etiology, which looks at the causes of crime; and penology, which looks at society's
response to crime and includes the study of the criminal justice system, are the three
main divisions of this relatively new field of study. Criminologists are social scientists
who construct a body of general, provable principles about law, deviance, and crime
using current scientific research methodologies. Crime and deviance are viewed as
very complicated types of social behavior in criminological study, not as isolated
events. To properly comprehend the meaning of deviance and crime, the discipline
looks beyond legal definitions and considers the entire social context in which
deviation and lawlessness occur. A large quantity of evidence has been uncovered in
researching the causes of crime.

NOTA BENE: Causes of Crime refers to the factors or circumstances that apply
significantly more to offenders than to non-offenders and that potentially a direct but
not necessarily immediate link to crime.

A. APPROACHES AND METHODS IN THE CRIMINOLOGY FOR STUDY

OF CRIMES 

1. Biological Approach–It examines criminal behavior from a biological standpoint.

Biological explanations of crime believe that some persons are biologically different
from non-criminals and are "born criminals."
2. Psychogenic Approach - Psychologist investigators are pursuing a psychogenic
approach to criminology behavior, in which the focus is on linking criminal behavior
to mental states, particularly mental evidence disease; mental disorders, pathologies,
and emotional problems, and they repeatedly assert that crime is the result of criminal
mind. The core cause of criminal behavior does not appear to be environmental or
biological in nature.
3. Multifactor approach- in criminology grew out of the discrepancies and
arguments attending the single-factor tradition of the earlier days. That underlying
assumption was that different crimes are result of different combination of the factors.
Multifactor approach is an attempt to reconcile the disparate orientation and
contributions made by a variety of the various factors.
B. TYPES OF EXPLANATION TO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

1. Single or Unitary Cause - This approach assumes that criminal behavior is

produced solely by one component or variable, which could be social, biological, or
mental in nature.
2. Single or Unitary Cause - This approach assumes that criminal behavior is
produced solely by one component or variable, which could be social, biological, or
mental in nature.3.
3. Electric Theory - is approach views that criminal behavior at one or more factors,
while in other instances it is cause by another set of factors.

C. EARLY EXPLANATION TO THE EXISTENCE OF CRIMINALITY

1. Demons create crime - As a result, men engage in anti-social behavior because

demons, spirits, or others from the "other world" have directed, compelled, or pushed
them to do so. This was true during the pagan period, when any wrongdoing by men
was blamed on the will of devils or other supernatural beings. To free men from the
bad spirits, people devised rituals to drive the demons away and prevent them from
influencing and controlling them.

2. Crime is caused by Divine Will - Men engage in criminal action because they are
sinful, and God wishes to punish them. Criminals were granted the right of sanctuary
during the ancient period, allowing them to take refuge in God's temples and avoid
prosecution and punishment. In the early American jail system, inmates were not
allowed to speak with one another, and prisoners were placed in private cells to allow
them to pray to God for forgiveness.

3. The explanation that crime is the result of the free will of men (Classical school of
thought by BECARRIA). According to criminologist Bacarria, men are
fundamentally a biological organism with intelligence and rationality. Crime is cause
by the rational effort of men to augment their pleasure and to minimize their pains.

4. The explanations that crime us result of the free will of men but were committed
due to some compelling reasons prevailed (Neo-classical School of Thought) - This
explanation accepts the fact that crimes are committed in accordance with the free
will of men but the act of committing a crime is modified by some causes. Causes
include pathology, incompetence, insanity or any condition that will like it possible
for the individual to exercise their free will entirely.

5. The explanation that criminals are born (positive school of thought by Cesare
Lombroso, 1835-1909 According to Cesare Lambroso, who is now considered the
father of modern criminology, criminals are born with some physical characteristic
which become the causes of crimes. They advanced the following explanation to such
cause:

A.That the test is distinct born criminal type;

B.That this type can be identified by certain stigma or anomalies;
C.That the stigmata are not the cause of crime but rather the symptoms of atavism or
reversion of his body to his ape-like ancestors;
D.That this atavism and degeneracy of the body are the causes of crime and;
E.That a person who is born criminal cannot refrain from committing crime unless he
lives under exceptionally favorable circumstances.

Examples of physical degeneracy that causes crime:

A.Deviation on head size and shape.

B.Asymmetry of the face.
C.Excessive dimension of the jaws and cheekbones.
D.Eye defects and peculiarities.
E.Unusual size of the ears.
F.Nose are twisted, upturned, flattened or aquiline
G.Thick and fleshy lips, swollen and protruding.
H.Abnormality of the feet.
I.Chin receding or excessively long, short or flat.
J.Abnormalities of the hair, bald.
K.Supernumerary fingers and toes.
L.Imbalance of hemisphere of the brain.

D. APPROACHES TO THE EXPLANATION OF CRIMES

A. SUBJECTIVE APPROACH- The Criminology Review is a review of the

scientific theory of crime, which has sought for the explanation of crime in the form
of abnormalities or aberration that primarily exist within the criminal himself.

1. ANTHROLOGICAL APPROACH – This approach had tried to compare the

physical characteristics of the individual offender to non-offenders.
2. MEDICAL APPROACH –It explains the role of physical and mental conditions
of the individual prior or after an offense.
3. BIOLOGICAL APPROACH – It explains inheritance as a cause of crime. It also
proposes that human beings commit crime because of internal factors over which they
have little or no control.
4. PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH –, every man possesses integrity and whenever
we lose sight of a human as a whole we violate that integrity.
5. PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH – Intelligence, emotion and education of the
individual must be taken into account in relation to the wrongful act he has
committed.
6. PSYCHIATRIC APPROACH – This approach explains that the cause of
behavioural difficulties is to be found in emotional tension originating in early life
conflict with the family. Moreover, behavioural patterns will be established which
will later become permanent and fixed and it is hard for any correctional institution to
change this attitude if he is never caught of violation of law or ordinance.
7. PSYCHO-ANALITICAL APPROACH – Psychologists have developed a theory
of mind which they believe is at the root of all human behaviour - that is, the
repression of basic drives and needs.

A. OBJECTIVE APPROACH - It is drawn from a social science perspective that

offenders are ordinary people who have been influenced by extrinsic criminogenic
causes. It is concerned with the study of productive deviant behavior in groups, social
processes, and institutions.
1. GEOGRAPHICAL APPROACH – It considers climate as one of the factors that
lead individuals to do a criminal act.
2. ECOLOGICAL APPROACH – It is concerned with the biotic grouping of men
that occurs as a result of migration competition and labor division..
3. ECONOMIC APPROACH - Because financial difficulty is one of the key
reasons of criminality, every human being must examine or consider with deep
remorse and compassion the powerful temptation that has often reigned for so many
years from a lack of the requirements to support life.
4. SOCIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL APPROACH – It is concerned with the
effects of group life on behavior, such as rules and statutes, social classes and social
mobility, subculture, cliques, and social changes.

B. CONTEMPORARY APPROACH - It focused on the psychoanalytical,

psychiatric and sociological explanations crime.

E.CRIME PATTERNS
Criminologists look for stable crime rate patterns to gain insight into the nature of
crime. If crime rates are consistently higher at certain times, in certain areas, and
among certain groups, this knowledge might help explain crime's onset or cause.

A. DAY, SEASON, and CLIMATE - The majority of reported crimes occur

between April and July, during the warm summer months. Teenagers, who typically
have the highest crime rates, are out of school during the summer and have a greater
opportunity to commit crime.

B. TEMPERATURE - While weather effects (such as temperature swings) may

have an impact on violent crime rates, laboratory studies suggest that the relationship
between temperature and crime resembles a complicated U-shaped curve. Crime rates
rise as temperatures rise and then begin to fall at some point (85 degrees)

2. POPULATION DENSITY AND CRIME (DIFFERENCE BY REGION) -

Large urban areas have by far the highest rates of violence. Rural areas are more
likely to have low per capita crime rates. These findings are backed up by victim data.
Low population resort areas with large transient or seasonal populations are
exceptions to this trend.

3. INTELLIGENCE AND CRIME - Many early criminologists believed that many

delinquents and criminals had lower-than-average intelligence quotients and that their
criminality was caused by their low IQ.

4. FIREARMS USE - Firearms play a significant role in criminal activity.

According to the NCVS, firearms are used in approximately 20% of robberies, 10%
of assaults, and more than 5% of rapes. According to the UCR, approximately two-
thirds of all murders involved firearms, the majority of which were handguns.

There is a raging debate about whether guns should be controlled in order to reduce or
eliminate violent crime. International criminologists believe the proliferation of hand
guns is the single most significant factor separating the crime problem in the United
States from the rest of the developed world.
5. SOCIAL CLASS AND CRIME- The relationship between social class and crime
is an unresolved issue in criminological literature. Crime has traditionally been
thought to be a lower-class phenomenon. After all, those at the bottom of the social
ladder have the greatest incentive to commit crimes. Those who are unable to obtain
desired goods and services through traditional means may resort to theft and illegal
means. These activities are known as instrumental crimes. Poverty is also thought to
be associated with a disproportionate number of Expressive crimes.

6. AGE AND CRIME- There is general agreement that age is inversely related to
criminality. Criminologists Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson state "Age is
everywhere correlated with crime". James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein argue
that aging out is a function of the natural history of human life.

EARLY ONSET- People who commit crimes at a very early age and who establish
official criminal records are most likely to become chronic offenders.

7. RACE AND CRIME- Official crime data indicate that minority group members
are involved in a disproportionate share of criminal activity. It is possible that these
data reflect racial differences in the crime rate, but it is also possible that they reflect
police bias. Charges of racial discrimination in the arrest process would be
substantiated if whites and black self-reported equal numbers of crimes, but minorities
were arrested for more often.
8. GENDER AND CRIME- male crime rates are generally higher than those
females. Lombroso’s book, the female offender argued that in physical appearance
and emotional makeup, delinquent females appear closer to men than to other women.
This theory is known as Masculinity hypothesis; In essence, a few masculine females
were responsible for the handful of crimes women commit. The female’s criminality
was often masked because authorities were reluctant to take action against women.
This is known as Chivalry hypothesis. While Liberal feminist theory focused attention
on the social and economic role of a woman. This view suggests that the traditionally
lower crime rate for women could be explained by their second class economic and
social position.

CRIMINAL CAREERS- According to crime statistics, most offenders commit a

single criminal act and then discontinue their antisocial behavior after being arrested.
Others commit a few lesser offenses. However, a small number of criminal offenders
account for the vast majority of all criminal offenses. These repeat offenders are
known as career criminals or chronic offenders. Children who have been exposed to a
variety of personal and social problems at a young age are the most likely to reoffend.
(Delinquency in a Birth Cohort, Marvin Wolfgang)

F. CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS OF CRIME 

Criminologist has accepted that criminality tendencies and behavior could be
influenced by social conditions. This one factor seems to account largely for the crime
rate situations in the Philippines although crimes committed are invariably associated
with some of the following contributing factors such as: 

1.Social conditions
2.Economic
3.Environment
4.Cultural influences and
5.Individual personal temperaments

G. OTHER BASIC CAUSES OF CRIME

1.Revenge
2.Insanity
3.Passion
4.Hatred
5.Unpopular Laws
6.Personal Gain

H. Methods of studying crime

Aggregate Data Research – Tells us about the effect of social trends and patterns on
the crime rate.
Cohort Research – Involves observing a group of people who share a like
characteristic over time.
Types of Cohort Research in Crime
A. Longitudinal – Characteristics: subjects are selected; their behaviors are followed
for long period of time. Data include: school experiences, arrests, hospitalizations,
and information about their family life (divorces, parental relations); and subjects
given repeated intelligence and physical exams; their diets monitored. Data can be
collected directly from subjects.

B. Retrospective - A study that uses an intact cohort of known offenders and looks
back into their early life experiences by checking their educational, family, police,
and hospital records. Important sources of Aggregate Data Research is Uniform
Crime Report (UCR); an annual report that reflects the number of crimes reported by
citizens to local police departments and the numbers of arrests made by police
agencies in a given year.

C. Observational and Interview Research – Focuses on relatively few subjects,

interviewing them in depth or observing them as they go about their activities. 
D. Experimental Research – To see the direct effect of one factor on another.

E. Survey Research – Designed to measure the attitudes, belief, values, personality

traits, and behavior of participants. There are three types of Survey Research:

a. Self-Report Surveys – ask participants to describe, in detail, their recent and

lifetime criminal activity.
b. Interviews.

c. Cross-Sectional Research – simultaneously interviewing or questioning a diverse

sample of subjects who represent a cross section of a community. One and two
involve sampling the process of selecting for study a limited number of subjects who
are representative of entire groups sharing similar characteristics, called populations.

Sociology of Law (or Legal Sociology)

The sociology of law is the sociological study of law and law-related phenomena. It
dates back to the classic works by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. For some time it
was part of the multidisciplinary field of law-and-society studies. But it has in recent
years grown into a relatively autonomous branch of theory and research in sociology.

A. AREAS OF INQUIRY IN LAW SOCIOLOGY- The social development of

legal institutions, forms of social control, legal regulation, the interaction of legal
cultures, the social construction of legal issues, legal profession, and the relationship
between law and social change are all areas of socio-legal inquiry.

B. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY OF LAW (The relationship between

sociology and law)
In Sociology, we would say that law is a Social Control over Society. Norms,
customs, traditions all these come under the law if the law did not exist then the
society would be less than a jungle. To have harmonious society one needs to build
laws. When something is orally people tend to ignore and take it lightly. So therefore
people have to build Judiciary system and law enforcement agencies.

Sociology of law and sociology of sociology has similar subject matters such as both
evolve around social relationships, principles, social controls, commitments and
desires coming from specific social status and connections between or among people
and society. Anything happening in social lives of people liable to lawful control and
legal explanations does have likenesses with the social hypothesis and frequently
reads like the sociological hypothesis. Talcott Parsons stated that law is the essential
part of social control. German Sociologist Niklas Luhmann shares that Law is
functional system of society.

C. LAW defined 
In its most generic signification as an ordinance of reason promulgated for the
common good by him who is in charge. To be useful and fair, law has to be
promulgated, i.e., made known to those who are expected to follow it.

D. TWO TYPES OF LAW

1. NATURAL LAWS - Implied in our conscience and bodies. Rooted in core values
that many cultures share. Natural laws, which form the foundation of common law
systems, protect against harm to persons (e.g., murder, rape, assault) or property
(theft, larceny, robbery).

A. Natural Moral Law - applies to our higher faculties. Example: Do good and avoid
evil. 
B. Law of Nature - Applies to both our higher and lower faculties. Example: the law
of gravity.

Natural Law and Natural Right 

Natural Rights – thoughts that individuals retain in the face of government action
and interests.
Thomas Jefferson- inalienable rights to "life, liberty, and property" were naturally due
to all men and women because they were inherent in the social contract between
citizens and their government.

Today's Natural Law- Many people today believe that the foundation for various
existing criminal laws can be found in immutable moral principles or some other
discernible aspect of the natural order.
The Ten Commandments, "inborn tendencies," the concept of sin, and perceptions of
various forms of order in the universe and social world have all provided a foundation
for the claim that natural law exists. As an example, consider the abortion debate.

2. Positive Law - promulgated expressly or directly.

Examples: 

A.Divine Positive Law - Like the 10 Commandments.

B.Divine Human Positive Law – like the golden rule. 

C. Human Positive Law - like Congressional Statutes or Executive orders. 

Sometimes called Statutory Laws. Those enacted by legislatures and reflect current
cultural mores, albeit that some laws may be controversial, e.g. laws that prohibit
marijuana use and gambling

Penology
The Correctional system in the Philippines is composed of agencies under three
(3) distinct and separate executive department of the national government, namely: 

1. Department of Justice – under this are the Bureau of Corrections, the Parole and
Probations.

2. Department of the Interior and Local Government – under this are the Bureau
of Jail Management and Penology which runs the City, Municipality and District ; and
the Provincial Jail through their respective government; and

3. Department of Social Welfare and Development – under this is the Bureau of

Child and Youth Welfare which overseas youth rehabilitations centers.

A. PENOLOGY defined

Penology is the study of criminal punishment or criminal offenders. It entails the

study of crime control and prevention through the punishment of criminal offenders.

Penology, also known as PENAL SCIENCE, is a branch of criminology that deals

with prison management and the treatment of offenders, as well as the philosophy and
practice of society in its efforts to suppress criminal activity.
B. ORIGIN OF THE WORD PENOLOGY

It is derived from two words: PENO and LOGY. The term “PENO” was derived from
Greek word “POINE” which means punishment as well as from Latin word
“POENA”, which means Pain or Suffering. “LOGY” was derived from the Latin
word “LOGOS”, that means Science. 1870 to 1880 – was the golden age of penology
because of the following reasons:

a. The formulation and organization of national American prison association in 1870;

b. In 1872, the first international prison congress was held in London;

c. In 1876, the Elmira reformatory was considered as the forerunner of the

modern penology; and

d. The first separate institutions for women were established in Indiana and
Massachusetts.

C. PRINCIPAL AIMS OF PENOLOGY:

1. To bring light the ethical barriers of punishment, along with the motives and
purposes of society inflicting it.

2. To make comparative study of penal laws and procedures through history between
nations.

3. To evaluate the social consequences of the policies enforced at given time.

D. PENAL MANAGEMENT defined

It refers to the manner or practice of managing or controlling places of confinement as

in jails or prisons.

E. CORRECTION defined

It is that field of criminal justice administration which utilizes the body ofknowledge
and practices of the government and the society in general involving the process of
handling individuals who have been convicted of offenses for purposes of crime
prevention and control. It is a generic term that includes all government agencies,
facilities, programs, procedures, personnel, and techniques concerned with the
investigation, intake, custody, confinement, supervision, or treatment of alleged
offenders.

F. DISTINCTION BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL AND NON-

INSTITUTIONAL
CORRECTION OR COMMUNITY BASED CORRECTION.

Institutional Corrections
-That aspect of the correctional
enterprise that involves the
incarceration and rehabilitation of
adults and juveniles convicted of
offenses against the law, and the
confinement of persons suspected of
a crime awaiting trial and adjudication.

Non-Institutional Corrections
-That aspect of the correctional enterprise
that includes pardon, probation, and
parole activities, correctional
administration not directly connectable to
institutions, and miscellaneous (activity)
not directly related to institutional care.

G. COMMUNITY SENTENCE SEEKS TO:

1. Repair the harm the offender has caused the victim or the Community
2. Provide for public safety
3. Rehabilitate and promote effective reintegration

H. CORRECTION AS PROCESS: It refers to the reorientation of the criminal

offender to prevent him or her from repeating his deviant or delinquent actions
without the necessity of taking punitive actions but rather the introduction of
individual measures of reformation.

I. CORRECTIONAL ADMINISTRATION defined

The study and practice of a systematic management of jails or prisons and other
institutions concerned with the custody, treatment, and rehabilitation of criminal
offenders.

J. CORRECTION AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM defined - It is the machinery of any government

in the control and prevention of crimes and criminality. It is composed of the pillars of
justice such as: the Law Enforcement pillar (Police), the Prosecution pillar, the Court
pillar, the correction pillar, and the community pillar.
CORRECTION as one of the pillars of the criminal justice system is considered
as the weakest pillar.

REASONS:

1. Its failure to deter individuals in committing crimes.

2. Its failure to reform of inmates.

This is an evident in the increasing number of inmates in jails or prisons. Hence,

the need for prison management to rehabilitate inmates and transform them to
become law-abiding citizens after their release is necessary.
The pillar takes over once the accused, after having been found guilty, is meted
out the penalty for the crime he committed. He can apply for probation or he could be
turned over to a no-institutional or institutional agency or facility for custodial
treatment and rehabilitation. The offender could avail of the benefits of parole or
executive clemency once he has served the minimum period of his sentence.

K. JAIL AND PRISON

Jail defined - Institution of the confinement of persons who are awaiting final
disposition of their criminal cases and also for the service of those convicted and
punished with shorter sentences, up to 3 years

Prison defined - Institution for the confinement of persons who have been
convicted by final judgement by the court in which the penalty is more than 3 years

L. UNITS BUREAU OF CORRECTIONS

The Bureau of Corrections currently has 8 operating units located nationwide:

1. New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City (Old Bilibid Prison)

2. Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City / and the The
CIW Mindanao, Panabo, Davao
3. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
4. Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro
5. San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City
6. Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte
7. Ilo – Ilo Penal Colony and Farm – Newest Colony
8. Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Panabo, Davao

M. PUNISHMENT defined

Punishment is the redress that the state takes against an offending member
of society that usually involved pain and suffering. It is also the penalty imposed
on an offender for a crime or wrong doing.

N. ANCIENT FORMS OF PUNISHMENT

1. HARD LABOR- productive works.

2. UNIFORMITY- “we treat the prisoners alike”, “the fault of one is the fault of
all”.

3. DEPRIVATION- deprivation of everything except the bare essentials of

existence.

4. MONOTONY- giving the same food that is “off” diet, or requiring the prisoners
to perform drab or boring daily routine.

5. ISOLATION OR SOLITARY CONFINEMENT- non-communication, limited

news, “the lone wolf”.

6. MASS MOVEMENT- mass living in cell blocks, mass eating, mass recreation,
mass bathing.

7. DEGRADATION- uttering insulting words or languages on the part of the

prison staff to the prisoners to degrade or break the confidence of the
prisoners.

8. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT- imposing brutal punishment or employing

physical force to intimidate a delinquent inmate.

O. CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF PUNISHMENT

1. PAROLE- A conditional release of a prisoner after serving part of his/her

sentence in prison for the purpose of gradually re-introducing him/her to free
life under the guidance and supervision of a parole officer.

2. IMPRISONMENT- Putting the offender in prison for the purpose of protecting

the public against criminal activities and at the same time rehabilitating the
prisoners by requiring them to undergo institutional treatment programs.

3. PROBATION- A disposition whereby defendant after conviction of an offense,

the penalty of which does not exceed six years imprisonment, is released
subject to the conditions imposed by the releasing court and under the
supervision of a probation officer.

4. FINE- an amount given as a compensation for a criminal act.

5. DESTIERRO- the penalty of banishing a person from the place where he

committed a crime, prohibiting him to get near a center the 25- kilometer
perimeter.

NOTA BENE: Ancient Rome is the nation who pioneered banishment as a form
of punishment.

P. PURPOSES OR JUSTIFICATION OF PUNISHMENT

1. RETRIBUTION- the punishment should be provided by the state whose
sanction is violated, to afford the society or the individual the opportunity of
imposing upon the offender suitable punishment as might be enforced.
Offenders should be punished because they deserve it.

2. EXPIATION OR ATONEMENT- punishment in the form of group vengeance

where the purpose is to appease the offended public or group.

3. DETERRENCE- punishment gives lesson to offender by showing to others

what would happen to them if they violate the law. Punishment is imposed to
warn potential offenders that they can afford to do what the offender has
done.

4. INCAPACITATION AND PROTECTION- the public is protected if the

offender
has been held in conditions where he cannot harm others especially the
public. Punishment is effected by placing offenders in prison so that society is
ensured from further criminal depredations of criminals.

5. REFORMATION OR REHABILATATION- it is the establishment of the

usefulness and responsibility of the offender. Society’s interest can be better
served by helping the prisoner to become law abiding citizen and productive
upon his return to the community by requiring him to undergo intensive
program of rehabilitation in prison.

Q. CHARACTERISTIC OF PUNISHMENT

1. It must be Severe
2. It must be Uniform
3. It must be Certain
4. It must be Swift

R. PENALTY defined

It is defined as the suffering inflicted by the state against an offending member

for the transgression of law.

S. JURIDICAL CONDITIONS OF PENALTY

Punishment must be:

1. Productive of Suffering - without however affecting the integrity of the

human personality.
2. Commensurate with the Offense - different crimes must be punished with
different penalties (art. 25, RPC).
3. Certain - no one must escape its effects.
4. Legal - the consequence must be in accordance with the law.
5. Equal - equal for all persons.
6. Personal - the guilty one must be the one to be punished, no proxy.
7. Correctional - changes the attitude of offenders and become law abiding
citizens.

T. DURATION OF PENALTIES

1. Death Penalty – Capital punishment

2. Reclussion Perpetua – Life imprisonment, a term of 20-40 years
imprisonment
3. Reclussion Temporal – 12 yrs and 1 day to 20 yrs imprisonment
4. Prision Mayor – 6 yrs and 1 day to 12 yrs imprisonment
5. Prision Correctional – 6 months and 1 day to 6 yrs imprisonment
6. Arresto Mayor – 1 month and 1 day to 6 months imprisonment
7. Arresto Menor– 1 day to 30 days imprisonment
8. Bond to keep the Peace – discretionary on the part of the court
9. Destierre- Under article 25, destierro is classified as a correctional penalty and,
under article 27, its duration is from 6 months and 1 day to 6 years. Upon the other
hand, the duration of arresto mayor, classified also as a correctional penalty (article
25), is from 1 month and 1 day to 6 months (article 27)

Criminalistics

Criminology and criminalistics are frequently confused in the public's mind. In

comparison, criminology is the study of criminal individuals, while criminalistics is
the study of criminal things, or the totality of all sciences applied to crime detection.
A criminal commits a crime by using objects, such as those he left at the crime site.

A. CRIMINALISTIC defined

Criminalistics, formerly known as FORENSIC CHEMISTRY, is the scientific

investigation of physical evidence through laboratory work. It is the study of
"criminal things." It entails the application of all sciences to the discovery of
criminals. It is known as "Instrumentation" in the field of criminal investigation. It is
the scientific evaluation of genuine evidence, as well as the use of physical science
instruments and methodologies in the detection of crime. It also has to do with the
application of natural science to recognize, identify, compare, and evaluate physical
evidence.

NOTA BENE: The term Criminalistics (Kriminalistik) was first used by Hans Gross
in 1891. The most important concept in criminalistics is identification or
individualization (Paul Kirk)

B. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE defined

Objects and materials found in the PHYSICAL EVIDENCE are

In connection with the investigation and to aid in determining the identify of the
culprit or the circumstances in which the crime was committed.
A criminal either uses objects to commit crime or leaves something at the scene of the
crime. "Physical Evidence" refers to the items he utilized in his crime or left at the
crime scene that are the focus of criminalistics.

Physical evidence is also the number one provider of extraordinary

clearances, where police can link different offenses at different times and places with
the same offender. Working with physical evidence means being aware at all times of
what the prosecutor needs to win the case in court. This means knowing the types of
evidence and the laws of evidence.
This physical evidence includes but not limited to the following:
1. Blood and bloodstain
2. Firearms and other deadly weapons
3. Fingerprints and footprints
4. Tool marks and many more

NOTA BENE:
Physical evidence is part of the “holy trinity” for solving crimes physical, evidence,
witnesses, and confessions. Without one of the first two, there is little chance of even
finding a suspect. In homicide and sexual assault cases, physical evidence is the
number one determinant of guilt or
innocence.

C. KINDS OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

1. Corpus Delicti Evidence – Evidence that attest or verify the existence of a crime.
Usually it is known as the “body of the crime”.

2. Associative Evidence- Evidence found in the crime scene that links the suspects to
the crime scene.

3. Tracing Evidence – Any Articles or Evidence w/c assist the investigator in

locating the suspects.

D. CRIMINOLOGIST AND CRIMINILIST

CRIMINOLOGIST defined

Any person who is a graduate with the Degree of Criminology, who passed
the examination for criminologist and is registered as such by the Board of
Examiners of the Professional Regulation Commission. The term criminologist is one
who has been engaged in the practice of criminology if he holds himself out to the
public in any of the following capacities under Section 23 of Republic Act No. 6504.

CRIMINALIST defined
Any trained person in sciences of the application of instruments and methods, to
the detection of crime. Physical evidences are variable. Some are visible; some are
very small and have to be looked for with a microscope. Some must be tested with
application of chemicals in order to find out what they are. Some physical evidences
such as latent prints are not visible and have to be dusted with powders or examined
and searched with special lights to be visualized.

E. DR. HANS GROSS (December 12, 1847- December 9, 1915)

DR. HANS GUSTAV ADOLF GROSS was an Austrian criminal jurist and
examining judge whose real name was Hans GUSTAV ADOLF GROSS. He is
referred described as the "Father or Inventor of Criminalistics." He taught at
Chernivtsi University, Prague University, and the University of Graz, as well as
founding the Graz Institute of Criminology. He was also the father of Otto Gross, an
Austrian psychoanalyst. SEARCH FOR TRUTH, he said, is the foundation and
purpose of all criminal investigations. He also stated that a big portion of criminal
activity consists of a war against lies. In 1893, he published a book titled
"HANDBUCH FURUNTERSUCHUNGSRICHTER, POLIZEIBEAMTE,
GENDARMEN, U.S.W." is regarded as the beginning of the field of criminalistics,
which applies science to crime investigation and law enforcement. The effort brought
together previously unconnected fields of information that could be used to combat
crime in a single system.

NOTA BENE: ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF HIS BOOK: A handbook for

examining magistrates, police officials, military policemen, etc.

F. DIVISIONS OF CRIMINALISTICS

There are six (6) divisions of criminalistics. The first three (3) are scientific and
the other Five (5) are technological. In both cases, instrumentation is involved.

NOTA BENE: INSTRUMENTATION is the application of instruments and methods

of criminalistics to the detection of crime. It is the sum total of the application of all
sciences in crime detection, otherwise known as criminalistics although
instrumentation means more than criminalistics because it includes all technical
methods by which the fugitives may be traced, identified and examined.

I. SCIENTIFIC DIVISION– Scientific subject require the study of science and

mathematics before practical training in the laboratory. The scientific subject are:

a. CHEMISTRY - The original name for criminalistics is Forensic Chemistry, which

shows the importance and significant role of the chemist in the field of criminalistics.
A chemist includes the following exertion but not limited to alcoholic analysis,
toxicology, narcotic and substance abuse testing, firearms discharge residues,
identification of paint chips, chemical development of latent fingerprints and all types
of analysis through the use of chemical reagents and electronic instruments.

b. PHYSICS - The duties of a physicist in a crime laboratory include but not limited
to firearms identification, tool mark comparison, scientific photography, traffic or
vehicular accidents for the purpose of finding out the speed and direction of vehicles,
and use of X-rays to the detection of crime.

c. BIOLOGY - Biology is the study of living things. The science that deals with the
origin, history, physical characteristics, life, processes, habits, etc. of plants and
animals. The biologists in a police laboratory study all kinds of living things- blood,
semen, urine, hairs, and skin. He is particularly skilled in the use of a microscope. His
most important role in criminalistics is to examine bloodstains in order to find out if
they are of human or animal origin.

II. TECHNOLOGICAL DIVISION - Technological subjects are usually learned

directly by practical training in the laboratory thru the supervision of an experienced
examiner. The scientific subject are:

A. QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINATION - It concerned with the

examination of forged, altered, or suspects papers, in order to determine and see if
they are genuine or not, that is, the tenor or substance on face of the documents have
been changed in any way, that it prejudices the rights of others.
FUNCTION OF DOCUMENT EXAMINER
1. Developed latent writing

2. Reveal the following:

a. Erasures
b. Alterations
c. Intercalations
d. Changes

3. They compare ink, pencil, typewriting and printed material of all the kinds of
questioned and standard documents through the use o:
a. Ultra-violet
b. Infra-red
c. Transparent
d. Sloping light
e. Advance photography.

GRAPHOLOGY OR HANDWRITING ANALYSIS

Questioned document examination should not be mixed up with the term
andpractice of Graphology or Handwriting analysis. Graphology aims to determine
about person's characteristics, traits and personality by the way a person writes
his/her letters and shapes of words.

B. FIREARM IDENTIFICATION - It deals with the study regarding comparison

and identification of weapons alleged to have been used in the commission of crime.
It is sometimes wrongly called ballistics such that it is not the proper word for the
work done by a criminalistics examiner.

BALLISTICS defined- it means a branch of engineering that deals with the study of
the art of throwing missiles by means of a machine. It also deals with the study of the
motion of projectiles in flight.

BALLISTICS ENGINEERS - concerned with the design of weapons and

projectiles.
FIREARMS EXAMINER - concerned with the findings of whether a bullet or
cartridge was fired from one and the same firearm alleged to have been used in the
commission of crime. It also tries to find out how far away the suspect when he fired
his victim. They can help the investigator as to make, model and kind of weapon used
by the perpetrator in the commission of crime and can help the pathologist decide
from a study of wounds on how the weapon was held when he fired at the victim.

C. FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION – It is the cornerstone of personal

identification. The system is based on the undisputed fact that after so many studies
and research, “No Two Persons Have the Same Fingerprint”; or “;The Principle of
Individuality” Fingerprint is a positive proof wherein law enforcement agencies look
upon the science as the best evidence of positive identification. Fingerprint
identification can aid the police investigator in identifying persons in custody, and
when it is found at the crime scene, it can also help to identify and locate the
perpetrator by means of examining and comparing every minute details of the
fingerprint lifted or developed from the crime scene from the suspects fingerprint.

D. PHOTOGRAPHY - It is an indispensable instrumentation in the field of

criminalistics; hence you cannot do anything in criminalistics without it.
Photography cannot be separated from the criminalistics because every criminalist
should know how to photograph evidence.

SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPHY in criminalistics includes

1. Microphotography
2. Microphotography
3. Infra-red
4. Ultra-violet
5. Special light procedures
E. LIE DETECTION OR POLYGRAPHY - This is one of the scientific methods in
crime detection although it is not a part of criminalistics. In criminal investigation,
test or question individuals for the purpose of detecting deception or verifying truth of
statements through a visual, permanent and simultaneous recording of persons cardio-
vascular and respiratory pattern. It applies a reliable questioning technique for
diagnosing.

POLYGRAPH MACHINE merely measures certain identifiable physical reactions

as
affecting the:
1. Respiratory rate
2. Blood pressure/pulse rate
3. Galvanic skin resistance

Victimology as a Subfield of Criminology

We must first recognize that victimology is a relatively young subject or area of

study within criminology before we can comprehend it. Criminology is a vast subject
of study that includes the study of lawmaking, law enforcement, and society responses
to law enforcement. Victimology, like criminal justice, is part of the third category.
Within victimology, there are no subfields; in fact, there are few theories and few, if
any, schools of thought. Returning to criminology, Penology (including the sociology
of law); delinquency; and criminal justice are the four subfields. Comparative (and
historical) criminology; and victimology (also known as psychological criminology).

What is Victimology?

The term victimology is not new. In fact, Benjamin Mendelsohn first used it
in1947 to describe the scientific study of crime victims. Victimology is often
considereda subfield of criminology, and the two fields do share much in common.
Just as criminology is the study of criminals what they do, why they do it, and how
the criminal justice system responds to them victimology is the study of victims.
Victimology, then, is the study of the etiology (or causes) of victimization, its
consequences, how the criminal justice system accommodates and assists victims, and
how other elements of society, such as the media, deal with crime victims.
Victimology is a science; victimologists use the scientific method to answer questions
about victims. For example, instead of simply wondering or hypothesizing why
younger people are more likely to be victims than are older people, victimologists
conduct research to attempt to identify the reasons why younger people seem more
vulnerable.

Andrew Karmen, who wrote a text on entitled Crime Victims: An Introduction to

Victimology in 1990, broadly defined victimology: Victimology is the scientific study
of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the
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.

From this definition, we can see that victimology encompasses the study of:
1. victimization
2. victim-offender relationships
3. victim-criminal justice system relationships
4. victims and the media
5. victims and the costs of crime
6. victims and social movements

Legal definition of “victim”

Victim is a person who has suffered direct, or threatened, physical, emotional or

pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a crime. Group harms are normally
covered under civil and constitutional law, with "hate crime" being an emerging
criminal law development. Advocates for battered women were among the first to
recognize the issue.

The History of Victimology: Before the Victims’ Rights Movement

Victimology is the scientific study of crime victimology. The burden of the

justice system, informal as it was, fell on the victim and the victim's family to seek
justice. During the Middle Ages, a crime was considered a harm against the victim,
not the state. Criminals were expected to pay back the victim through restitution. A
criminal would be punished because he or she deserved it, and the punishment would
be equal to the harm caused by the criminal. When a person or property was harmed,
it was up to the victim and the victim's family to seek justice. The Code of
Hammurabi was the basis for order and certainty in Babylon. The early response to
crime centered on the victim, not the state. After the Industrial Revolution, criminal
justice shifted to consider crimes against the state rather than the victim. Once the
victim ceased to be seen as the entity harmed by the crime, the victim became
secondary. Once the victim ceased to be seen as the entity harmed by the crime, the
victim became secondary.

The Role of the Victim in Crime:

Victim Precipitation, Victim Facilitation, and Victim Provocation are all forms of
victimization. Despite the fact that the study of victimology has mostly moved away
from simply identifying victims, The initial excursions into the study of crime victims
were focussed on determining how much a victim contributes to his or her own
victimization. As a result, the initial studies of crime victims did not portray victims
as innocent victims who had been harmed by a criminal. These investigations gave
rise to notions like victim precipitation, victim facilitation, and victim provocation.

Victim precipitation – acknowledges that crime victimization involves at least two

people an offender and a victim. Both parties are acting and reacting before, during,
and after the incident. Identifying victim precipitation does not necessarily lead to
negative outcomes. It is problematic, however, when it is used to blame the victim
while ignoring the offender's role. In this way, victim precipitation acknowledges
some victims are not at all responsible for their victimization,

Victim facilitation – is when a victim unintentionally makes it easier for an offender

to commit a crime. A woman who accidentally left her purse in plain view in her
office would be a victim who facilitated her own victimization. Unlike precipitation,
facilitation helps understand why one person may be victimized over another but does
not connote blame and responsibility. It is similar to victim precipitation is the
concept of victim facilitation.

Victim provocation – It occurs when a person does something that incites another
person to commit an illegal act. Victim precipitation, facilitation, and provocation are
not always clear-cut. An example of victim provocation would be if a person
attempted to mug a man who was walking home from work and the man, instead of
willingly giving the offender his wallet, pulled out a gun and shot the mugger.

Hans Von Hentig

 Hans von Hentig (1948) recognized in his book The Criminal and His Victim:
Studies in the Sociobiology of Crime the importance of investigating what factors
underpin why certain people are victims, just as criminology attempts to identify
those factors that produce criminality. Victimization is produced by some of the same
traits that produce crime, according to Hans von Hentig (1948). Victims can be
divided into 13 categories based on their propensity for victimization. For example,
the young, the old and females may be victimized because of their ignorance or risk
taking. He determined that victimization is also produced by some of the same traits
that produce crime. An example of a victim is a person who is blackmailed because of
his behavior, which places him in a precarious situation if he reports the blackmail to
the police. Immigrants, minorities, and dull normal are likely to be victimized due to
their social status and inability to activate assistance in the community. Tormentors
are people who provoke their own victimization viaviolence and aggression toward
others.

Benjamin Mendelsohn

Benjamin Mendelsohn, known as the "Father of Victimology," invented the term. in

the mid-1940s for this field of study. As an attorney, he got interested in the victim-
criminal relationship after conducting interviews with victims and witnesses and
discovering that victims and criminals frequently knew each other and had some form
of pre-existing relationship. He then devised a classification system for victims
depending on their level of culpability, or how much blame they bear.

The following was his classification:

1. Victim who bears no culpability for victimization: a victim who is victimized solely
because of his or her nature, such as being a youngster.

2.Victim with small guilt: a victim who is victimized due to ignorance; a victim who
unwittingly puts himself in danger.

3. Victim as guilty as offender/voluntary victim: a victim who bears as much

responsibility as the offender; a person who, for example, enters into a suicide pact

4. Victim more guilty than offender: a victim who instigates or provokes his or her
own victimization

5. Most guilty victim: a victim who is victimized during the perpetration of a crime or
as a result of crime

6. Simulating or imaginary victim: a victim who is not victimized at all but,

instead, fabricates a victimization event Mendelsohn’s classification emphasized
degrees of culpability, recognizing that some victims bear no responsibility for their
victimization, whereas others, based on their behaviors or actions, do.

Stephen Schafer
 Stephen Schafer (1968), one of the first victimologists, wrote The Victim. and
His Offender: A Case Study in Functional Responsibilities Schafer presented a victim
typology in the same way as von Hentig and Mendelsohn did. Using both social
qualities and behaviors, he categorizes victims into groups based on how responsible
they are for their own victimization. In this way, it incorporates aspects of von
Hentig's typology, which is based on personal attributes and conduct, as well as
Mendelsohn's typology. He claimed that people had a functional obligation not to
provoke others to injure or victimize them, and that they should actively endeavor to
avoid this. He divided the categories into seven groups, each with a different level of
liability:
1. Unrelated victims—no responsibility
2. Provocative victims—share responsibility
3. Precipitative victims—some degree of responsibility
4. Biologically weak victims—no responsibility
5. Socially weak victims—no responsibility
6. Self-victimizing—total responsibility
7. Political victims—no responsibility

Marvin Wolfgang

The first individual to do an empirical investigation on victimization Marvin

Wolfgang (1957) used precipitation in his classic study of killings in Philadelphia
from 1948 to 1952. He looked at 558 killings to assess how much victims were
responsible for their own deaths. Wolfgang designated the incidence as victim
precipitated when the victim was the direct, positive precipitator in the homicide. For
example, in such an occurrence, the victim would be the first to brandish or employ a
weapon, strike a blow, and start physical contact. violence. He discovered that victim
precipitated homicides accounted for 26% of all homicides in Philadelphia over this
time period.
Beyond just determining the number of homicide victims,
Wolfgang also discovered the elements that were common in these types of killings.
He discovered that the victim and the culprit in these types of homicides frequently
knew each other. He also discovered that the majority of victim-precipitated
homicides included male offenders and male victims, and that the victim had a history
of violent offending. Alcohol was also likely to have a role in victim-initiated
homicides, which makes sense given Wolfgang's findings that these homicides
frequently began as small altercations that escalated to murder.
Others have enlarged Wolfgang's concept of victim-precipitated homicide to
include felony-related homicide and sub-intentional homicide after his study. Sub-
intentional homicide occurs when a victim aids his or her own death by making poor
decisions, putting oneself or herself in danger, leading a dangerous lifestyle, or
abusing alcohol or drugs. Surprisingly, a study of sub-intentional homicide discovered
that up to three-quarters of fatalities were unintentional (N. H. Allen, 1980).

Menachem Amir
 Menachem Amir, a Wolfgang's student, conducted an empirical investigation of
reported rape incidents to the police. Amir has labeled nearly one in five rapes as a
precipitated victim. Amir also determined that it is the interpretation of actions by the
offender that matters, rather than what the victim is actually doing. The offender may
see the victim his actions, words, and clothing as contrary to what he deems
appropriate female behavior. In this way, in terms of how women should behave
sexually, the victim can be seen as "bad"..

Theories of Victimization

The second generation of theorists shifted attention from the victims role to
emphasizing a situational approach focused on explaining and testing how everyday
lifestyles and routine activities create opportunities for victimization. The emergence
of both these theoretical perspectives is one of the most important developments in
victimology.

1. Lifestyle Exposure Theory

Using data from the 1972–1974 NCS, Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo
(1978) noticed that certain groups of people, namely, young people and males, were
more likely to be criminally victimized. They theorized that an individual’s
demographics (e.g., age, sex) tended to influence one’s lifestyle, which in turn
increased his or her exposure to risk of personal and property victimization. For
instance, according to Hindelang et al., one’s sex carries with it certain role
expectations and societal constraints; it is how the individual reacts to these influences
that determines one’s lifestyle. If females spend more time at home, they would be
exposed to fewer risky situations involving strangers and hence experience fewer
stranger-committed victimizations.

2. Routine Activities Theory

Cohen and Felson (1979) formulated routine activities theory to explain

changes in aggregate direct-contact predatory (e.g., murder, forcible rape, burglary)
crime rates in the United States from 1947 through 1974. Routine activities theory
posits that the convergence in time and space of a motivated offender, a suitable
target, and the absence of a capable guardian provide an opportunity for crimes to
occur. The absence of any one of these conditions is sufficient to drastically reduce
the risk of criminal opportunity, if not prevent it altogether.

3. Empirical Support

Researchers commonly have used lifestyle exposure and routine activity

theories to test hypotheses about how individuals’ daily routines expose them to
victimization risk. These theories have been applied principally to examine
opportunities for different types of personal and property victimizations using diverse
samples that range from school-age children, to college students, to adults in the
general population across the United States and abroad. The data are generally
supportive of the theories, although not all studies fully support the theories.
Refinement and Empirical Tests of Opportunity Theories of Victimization

Multilevel modeling of lifestyle exposure and routine activity theories continues

to draw the attention of scholars seeking to test how both individual characteristics
and macrolevel ones for example, neighborhood characteristics frame victimization
opportunities (see Wilcox, Land, & Hunt, 2003). The theories have also been applied
to a wide range of crimes in different social contexts, such as school based
victimization in secondary schools (Augustine, Wilcox, Ousey, Clayton, 2002),
stalking among college students (Fisher, Cullen, &Turner, 2000), and even
explanations of the link between victimization and offending (Sampson & Lauritsen
1990).
Victimization theories have been expanded to examine nonpredatory crimes and
“victimless” crimes, such as gambling and prostitution (Felson, 1998), and deviant
behavior such as heavy alcohol use and dangerous drinking in young adults (Osgood,
Wilson, O’Malley, Bachman, & Johnston, 1996). Other scholars have examined how
opportunity for victimization is linked to social contexts and different types of
locations, such as the workplace (Lynch, 1987),
neighborhoods (Lynch &Cantor, 1992), and college campuses (Fisher, Sloan, Cullen,
Lu, 1998).
Researchers’ continued testing of lifestyle exposure and routine activity
theories has generated supportive findings and critical thinking that has led to a
refining and extension of them.
One of the first studies of opportunity theories for predatory crimes was
conducted by Sampson and Wooldredge (1987), who used data from the 1982 British
Crime Survey (BCS).

Moving Beyond Opportunity Theories

Low self-control, social relationships, and peer influences, according to Schreck

and his colleagues' research, have also been demonstrated to be key predictors of
violent and property victimization (Schreck,1999; Schreck Fisher, 2004; Schreck,
Stewart, & Fisher, 2006). Individual risk variables (e.g., limited self-control,
weak social attachments to family and school) and situational risk factors (e.g., having
delinquent peers, having a lot of unstructured social time) were investigated by
Schreck, Wright, and Miller (2002).