Positive School of Criminology

Exponents of Positive School

• Cesare Lambroso (1836-1909)

• Pioneer of positive school

• Objective, empiricall research
• Through anthropological experiments
• Criminals physically inferior
• Tendency for inferior acts
• Less sensitive to pain
• Little regard for sufferings of others
• Darwin’s Theory of Biological determining of
criminal behaviour.
 Lambroso’s Classification of Criminals

• Atavists,hereditary,born criminals beyond

reformation

• Insane Criminals

• Criminoids – physically inferior

 Contribution of Lambroso

• Lambroso’s emphasis on individual personality

• Sociologists emphasize external factors
• Psychologists on internal factors
• Biological nature of human behaviour
• Impact of environment on crime causation
• Theory of determinism of social economic
situations
• Paved way for multiple causation theory of crime
 Lambroso’s theory - criticism
• Over simplifaction of facts

• Faulty assumptions hindered growth of

criminology
 Enrico Ferri (1856-1928)
• Mere biological reasons do not lead to
criminality
• Emotional reaction,geographical conditions
determine criminality
• Crime – product of three factors
1. Physical or geographical
2. Anthropological
3. Psychological or social
 Ferri’s five – fold classification

1. Born criminals
2. Ocassional criminals
3. Passionate criminals
4. Insane criminals
5. Habitual criminals
 Measures for treatment of offenders

1. Punishment for reforming

2. Indeterminate sentence for readjustment
3. Rejected punishment for retribution, moral
culpability