Classical & Positivist Schools of Criminological Thought

Summary

In this insightful discussion, Dr. Jason Silva explores the classical and positivist schools of criminological thought. The classical school, emerging from the Enlightenment, posits that individuals are rational actors who weigh the costs and benefits of crime. It emphasizes deterrence through swift, certain, and proportional punishment. In contrast, the positivist school, informed by scientific methods, considers a range of biological, psychological, and sociological factors that may influence criminal behavior. It advocates for a more nuanced approach to punishment, taking into account the offender's background and motivations. This video provides a clear distinction between these two foundational perspectives on crime and punishment.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Criminology is the scientific study of criminal behavior, focusing on its causes and how to control it, whereas criminal justice is more about managing crime through punishment.
• 🏛️ The classical school of thought emerged during the Enlightenment and is associated with philosophers like Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.
• 🧠 Classical school emphasizes rationality in crime commission, suggesting that individuals weigh the costs and benefits before committing a crime.
• ⚖️ Punishment in the classical school should be swift, certain, and proportional to the crime committed.
• 🚫 The classical school argues that punishment should be severe enough to deter crime but not so harsh as to delegitimize the law.
• 🔬 The positivist school of thought uses the scientific method to understand crime, considering internal and external factors influencing criminal behavior.
• 🧬 The biological perspective within positivism looks at how physical and genetic factors can predispose individuals to criminal behavior.
• 🌐 The psychological perspective focuses on how early childhood experiences and mental health issues can contribute to criminal tendencies.
• 🏘️ The sociological perspective examines how social factors, such as community disorganization and social learning, influence criminal behavior.
• 🤔 Positivist school suggests that punishment should consider the offender's background and the reasons behind their actions, not just the crime itself.

Q & A

What is the main difference between criminology and criminal justice?

Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior, focusing on theories for why people engage in crime. Criminal justice, on the other hand, is more focused on crime control and addressing crime via punishment, particularly focusing on the three pillars of the criminal justice system: policing, courts, and corrections.

Who are the founding fathers of the classical school of thought in criminology?

The classical school of thought emerged during the Enlightenment period and had two founding fathers: Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

What is the significance of Jeremy Bentham's preserved body at University College London?

Jeremy Bentham's body is preserved and located at University College London as per his will, which stipulated that he be mummified so that his friends could wheel him around at parties to still enjoy his presence after his death.

What are the primary focuses of the classical school of thought?

The classical school of thought primarily focuses on the punishment of the offense, the idea that people are rational actors who weigh the costs and benefits of committing a crime, and the argument that punishment should be swift, certain, and proportional.

How does the classical school of thought define 'swift, certain, and proportional' punishment?

Swift punishment refers to the quick administration of justice, similar to the right to a speedy trial. Certain punishment means that people should be aware that if they commit a crime, they will be punished. Proportional punishment suggests that the punishment should fit the crime, avoiding excessive penalties that delegitimize the law.

What is the main goal of punishment according to the classical school of thought?

The main goal of punishment according to the classical school of thought is deterrence. They believe that by advertising the potential punishments, it might enhance deterrence when people weigh the costs and benefits of engaging in crime.

What is the positivist school of thought's approach to punishment?

The positivist school of thought focuses on punishing the offender by taking into consideration the offender's background, characteristics, and reasons for engaging in crime. It considers a multitude of internal and external factors, such as biological, psychological, and sociological components that contribute to criminal behavior.

How does the positivist school of thought use the scientific method?

The positivist school of thought uses the scientific method to test their ideas and determine empirical evidence surrounding them. This involves coming up with a research question or hypothesis, identifying a sample, conducting an experiment, and determining whether to accept or reject the hypothesis.

What are the three subsections of the positivist school of thought?

The three subsections of the positivist school of thought are biological, psychological, and sociological. These focus on internal and external factors contributing to criminal behavior.

Who is considered the founder of the biological subsection of the positivist school of thought?

Cesare Lombroso is considered one of the founders of the biological subsection of the positivist school of thought. He conducted experiments attempting to prove the idea of the 'born criminal,' suggesting that certain biological features indicated a predisposition to criminal behavior.

What are some contemporary biological factors that may contribute to criminal behavior?

Some contemporary biological factors that may contribute to criminal behavior include conditions like fetal alcohol syndrome and ADHD, which can influence impulse control and potentially increase the propensity towards criminality.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Criminological Thought

Dr. Jason Silva introduces the video by explaining the purpose of discussing two schools of criminological thought: classical and positivist. He clarifies the difference between criminology, which is the scientific study of criminal behavior, and criminal justice, which focuses on controlling crime through punishment. The classical school, emerging during the Enlightenment, is attributed to Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, who emphasized rationality in criminal behavior and the importance of punishment being swift, certain, and proportional. Silva also humorously notes Bentham's preserved body at University College London. The classical school's focus is on deterrence, suggesting that advertising potential punishments can influence a rational person's decision to commit crime.

05:01

🔍 The Classical School of Thought

This section delves into the classical school's view on punishment, suggesting that potential criminals weigh the costs and benefits before committing a crime. The idea is that if punishments are well-advertised, they can deter crime by influencing this cost-benefit analysis. The classical school advocates for punishments that are swift, certain, and proportional, contrasting the old notion of 'swift, certain, and severe.' Punishments should be delivered quickly to reduce the diminishing returns of deterrence over time. Certainty of punishment is emphasized to enhance deterrence, and proportionality ensures that the punishment fits the crime, avoiding the delegitimization of laws that excessive punishments could cause.

10:02

🕵️‍♂️ The Positivist School of Thought

The positivist school is contrasted with the classical school by focusing on the offender rather than just the offense. It considers the offender's background, characteristics, and motivations for crime. Using the example of bank robbery, the positivist approach might lead to a more lenient punishment if the robber's motives are considered, such as needing money for a child's healthcare. The positivist school employs the scientific method to test theories about crime, suggesting that criminal behavior has roots in internal and external factors beyond an individual's control. This school is divided into biological, psychological, and sociological subsections, each examining different contributing factors to criminality.

🧬 Biological and Psychological Factors in Positivism

Cesar Lombroso's work on biological factors in criminal behavior is discussed, including his flawed experiment to identify 'born criminals' through biological features. While his ideas are outdated, the section acknowledges the role of biological factors like fetal alcohol syndrome and ADHD in increasing the risk of criminality. The psychological subsection, influenced by Sigmund Freud, explores how early childhood experiences can influence criminal behavior later in life, such as the cycle of abuse. Mental illness is also considered a psychological factor that can affect a person's rationality in decision-making about crime.

🌐 Sociological Factors and the Broader View of Positivism

The sociological subsection of the positivist school, with Emile Durkheim as a foundational figure, examines external factors that contribute to criminal behavior. Social learning theory and social disorganization theory are mentioned as examples of how environmental factors can influence criminality. The summary concludes by differentiating the classical and positivist schools: the classical school focuses on rational actors and proportional punishment, while the positivist school considers a range of factors influencing criminal behavior and advocates for a more nuanced approach to punishment.

Keywords

💡Criminology

Criminology is defined as the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior. It focuses on understanding why people engage in criminal activities. In the video, criminology is contrasted with criminal justice, which is more about managing crime through punishment and the criminal justice system's three pillars: policing, courts, and corrections.

💡Classical School of Thought

The Classical School of Thought emerged during the Enlightenment period and is characterized by the belief in rational actors who weigh the costs and benefits of committing a crime. It emphasizes deterrence through the punishment of offenses, suggesting that swift, certain, and proportional punishment can prevent crime. Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham are noted as founders, with Bentham's preserved body being a quirky historical note mentioned in the script.

💡Rational Actors

The concept of 'rational actors' is central to the Classical School, suggesting that individuals make calculated decisions based on the potential punishment they might receive if caught committing a crime. This idea is used to argue for the need to publicize potential punishments to deter crime effectively.

💡Punishment

Punishment, as discussed in the video, is a key aspect of the Classical School's approach to crime. It should be swift, certain, and proportional to the crime committed. The video explains that 'swift' refers to the speed of the judicial process, 'certain' means that punishment is inevitable if one commits a crime, and 'proportional' indicates that the punishment should match the severity of the crime.

💡Positivist School of Thought

The Positivist School of Thought focuses on understanding the offender, including their background, characteristics, and motivations for criminal behavior. It uses the scientific method to test theories about crime, moving beyond philosophical ideas to empirical evidence. The video contrasts this approach with the Classical School's focus on the offense itself.

💡Biological Factors

Biological factors in criminology, as part of the Positivist School, refer to the internal, physiological elements that might predispose someone to criminal behavior. The video mentions Cesare Lombroso's flawed theory of 'born criminals' and contemporary considerations like fetal alcohol syndrome and ADHD as examples.

💡Psychological Factors

Psychological factors are internal influences on criminal behavior, such as unconscious thoughts and early childhood experiences, as discussed in relation to Sigmund Freud's theories. The video suggests that these factors can increase the risk of criminality but do not deterministically cause it.

💡Sociological Factors

Sociological factors are the external, environmental influences on criminal behavior. The video references Emile Durkheim's work and theories like social learning and social disorganization that suggest how community and societal structures can contribute to criminal tendencies.

💡Deterrence

Deterrence is a central goal of the Classical School's approach to punishment. It is the idea that the threat of punishment can discourage individuals from committing crimes. The video explains how the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment can enhance deterrence.

💡Proportionality

Proportionality in punishment means that the punishment should fit the crime, neither excessive nor insufficient. The video contrasts this with pre-Enlightenment practices where punishments were often excessive, suggesting that proportionality helps maintain the legitimacy of the law.

💡Recidivism

Recidivism refers to the likelihood of a convicted criminal to reoffend. The video mentions that longer prison sentences do not necessarily deter crime and can increase the chances of recidivism, which is a concept considered in the discussion of punishment's effectiveness.

Highlights

Criminology is the scientific study of criminal behavior, different from criminal justice which focuses on crime control.

Classical school of thought emerged during the Enlightenment period with Cesar Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham as founding fathers.

Jeremy Bentham's body is preserved and displayed at University College London.

Classical school suggests people are rational actors who weigh the costs and benefits of committing a crime.

Punishments should be swift, certain, and proportional according to the classical school.

Swift punishment relates to the speed of the trial and sentencing process.

Punishment should be certain to enhance deterrence.

Punishment should be proportional to the crime committed.

Classical school focuses on deterrence as one of the goals of punishment.

Positivist school of thought considers the offender's background and reasons for criminal behavior.

Positivist school uses the scientific method to test theories about criminal behavior.

Criminal behavior is influenced by internal and external factors, according to the positivist school.

Biological factors, such as atavistic anomalies, were considered in the positivist school's biological subsection.

Cesare Lombroso's theory of the 'born criminal' has been largely discredited.

Psychological factors, such as childhood experiences, can influence criminality.

Sigmund Freud's theories on the unconscious mind and its impact on behavior were influential.

Sociological factors, such as social learning and disorganization, contribute to criminality.

Emile Durkheim's work on social factors influencing behavior is foundational to the sociological subsection.

Positivist school suggests considering the offender's background when punishing crime.

Transcripts

hello hello everyone dr jason silva here

and today we're going to be talking

about the two schools of criminological

thought

specifically we're going to be

discussing the distinctions between the

classical

versus the positivist schools of thought

now before we get into that it's

important to recognize sort of what

criminology is referring to

and how that differs from criminal

justice criminology refers to the

scientific study of the

nature extent causes and control

of criminal behavior in other words it's

the theories for why people engage in

crime

this is sort of a distinction from

criminal justice

which is more focused on crime control

and addressing

crime via punishment particularly

focusing on

the three pillars of the criminal

justice system policing

courts and corrections now with that in

mind let's begin with the classical

school of thought

the classical school of thought came

around during the enlightenment period

and

had two founding fathers we have cesar

baqueria

and jeremy bentham now their ideas are

often sort of blended together and at

this introductory stage

you can think of all of these ideas as

both of theirs

an interesting tidbit jeremy bentham's

body is currently located at the

university college

london when he died he has to be

mummified

so that his friends could wheel him

around at parties and still enjoy his

presence after his death

and now you can visit his body which

still stands at the university college

of london

so if you're ever in town with that said

the classical school of thought

has a few primary focuses the first one

being

punishment of the offense and this will

make a bit more sense when we get into

the distinction with the positivist

school of thought next they suggest that

people are rational actors and they

weigh the costs and benefits of

committing a crime

against the punishment that they would

receive if they were to get caught

so for example let's think of a crime

like bank robber

beccaria and bentham would argue that

before you robbed a bank you would sit

down and ponder

is this worth the potential punishment i

would receive if i were to get caught

then if you decide that the crime is

worth the potential punishment

then you would engage in said crime if

we advertise the potential punishments

of crime

then it might enhance the deterrence

when people are weighing the costs and

benefits

of engaging in crime and this connects

to our next

component of the classical school of

thought the argument that

punishment should be swift certain and

proportional

now in the past you may have heard swift

certain and severe

but this is a misconception what

beccaria and bentham suggested was that

it should be swift

certain and proportional now let's break

this down

swiftness was referring to the swiftness

within the courts

as well as in the prison system similar

to what we hold in the united states

today

the right to a speedy trial this was

rooted in the ideas of

bentham and becquerea in addition to

this they suggested that punishment

has diminishing returns depending on the

length of sentencing

so if we hold someone for five years

there's not going to be

much of a difference than holding

someone for 10 years

so punishment should be fairly swift and

the impact

will be equally as great than if it was

for an extended period of time

and we know today that the longer we

hold someone

the more likely it is that they're going

to recidivate and the more difficult it

is for them to reintegrate back into

society

in addition to this they suggested that

punishment should be certain

in other words going back to our

previous discussion the idea that

punishment needs to be advertised in

order to enhance

general or specific deterrence

so we need to ensure that people know if

they commit a certain crime

they are going to get punished if we

think back to our bank robbery example

you know that if you engage in a bank

robbery

there's a very high chance that if you

are caught you're going to receive

some form of prison time this is the

idea of

certainty of punishment next they

suggested that the punishment should be

proportional

in other words the punishment should fit

the crime

going back to the pre-enlightenment

period as discussed punishments were

excessive

and this delegitimized the society's

laws

so they suggested that in order to have

a fair system

or a fair rule of law we needed to have

proportional punishments

that match the crime that was committed

this provides a general summary of the

classical school of thought

and going back to our five goals of

punishment it's important to remember

that the classical school was often

focused on

deterrence now let's switch over and

consider the positivist school of

thought

the positivist school of thought is more

concerned with punishing the

offender in other words taking into

consideration

the offender's background

characteristics and why they may have

decided to engage in said crime

so for example going back to the bank

robbery

in the classical school of thought we

would come up with a

specific or proportional punishment for

bank robbery let's say it's five years

as long as no one got injured

now in the positivist school of thought

we would take into consideration

why this individual engaged in bank

robbery

let's say in an extreme example they

robbed a bank so they could pay for

their

child's health care which they did not

currently have the funds or the health

insurance

to take care of if you take this into

consideration

does that make you more lenient in the

punishment that you would give to this

said individual would you perhaps not

say

one year or maybe even no time perhaps

some form of

restitution or monetary fine if you

change your mind

that would be a positivist way of

thinking taking into consideration

the motivations or internal or external

factors for why people engage in crime

unlike the classical school of thought

where becquerea

and bentham were largely just

philosophers coming up with these great

ideas

in the positivist school of thought they

began to use the scientific method

to test their ideas and determine

empirical evidence surrounding them

empirical meaning fact-based rooted in

some sort of scientific experiment

that developed objective evidence

surrounding it

if you are confused about the scientific

method please refer to my other video

outlining the different stages of the

scientific method

with that said it's essentially coming

up with a research question or a

hypothesis

identifying a sample conducting an

experiment

and determining whether or not to accept

or reject

the hypothesis however this is a video

on criminology so do not get too bogged

down

on that instead it's important to

recognize that they were not just simply

coming up with these ideas but we're

actually using

scientific experiments to test them they

suggest that criminal behavior is rooted

in

internal and external factors that are

often beyond

an individual's control and this breaks

down the three subsections

of the positivist school of thought this

includes the

biological psychological and

sociological subsections of the

positivist

school of thought the biological and

psychological being the

internal factors contributing to

someone's criminal behavior

while the sociological factors being

external

contributing to someone's behaviors so

let's break this down a little more

the biological subsection of the

positivist school of thought

was essentially founded by cesar

lombroso also considered one of the

founders of criminology

now he conducted an experiment in order

to

in an attempt to prove the idea of the

born

criminal in other words you are born a

criminal it is a

biological factor that contributes to

criminal

behavior he conducted an experiment

where he went around to different

prisons

and he looked at individuals biological

features

and he argued that based on your bodily

features or your atavistic

anomalies as he referred to them these

outlier

features we could determine whether or

not someone was a born

criminal so he used the scientific

method he came up with his idea of the

born criminal he went to different

prisons and he tested it out

he measured the biological features of

numerous people within these prisons

and he determined that based on these

bodily features people were born

criminals based on these atavistic

anomalies they were born

criminals now does that still hold today

no it does not what we came to learn was

that

cesar lombroso was not ahead of his time

in terms of his

actual experiment or his findings he did

a great job of introducing the

biological subsection and the positivist

school of thought within criminology

and importantly he conducted an

experiment which was sort of a

revelation for the time

however his experiment was tremendously

flawed

in other words he did not consider a

sample group or look at individuals

outside of the prisons what he would

have found is that many of the

biological or atavistic anomalies that

he identified

in people in prisons were also features

of people

outside of prisons and actually a lot of

his ideas were rooted in racism

and essentially was suggesting that

individuals who had

caveman-like features were born

criminals

now this is not to say that all

biological components are completely

erased from criminology

although considered less often some of

the contemporary biological features

that

contribute to towards propensity towards

crime

include fetal alcohol syndrome or when

your mother drinks when she's pregnant

another example could be adhd

influencing your impulse control and

thereby

increasing your potential or propensity

towards

criminality again this is not to say

that if you have these things

you are automatically going to engage in

crime it's purely

increasing your potential risk of

engaging in crime

next we have the psychological

subsection of the positivist school of

thought

in other words are how our psychology

contributes to criminality

now the father of psychology whom i'm

sure many of you are familiar with

is sigmund freud and while we don't have

to go deep

into psychology what you should be aware

of is that freud focused primarily on

the id

or our unconscious thinking this

unconsciousness

is rooted in our childhoods so he

suggested that

between the ages of two and four things

that happened to you that you can't

really remember

get implanted in your unconsciousness or

your subconscious

and influence your behaviors later in

life one example might be

if you are abused sexually physically or

even verbally as a child

this increases your risk of engaging in

abuse as an adult

this is what we call the cycle of abuse

this is a psychological feature that

impacts you in an early age and

contributes to your propensity towards

criminality

now again this does not suggest that if

you are abused you will automatically

abuse

as an adult this simply suggests that it

increases

your risk we also consider other

psychological features connecting with

biological features for example

internal factors at large such as mental

illness varying from

severe schizophrenia to depression can

all

influence our propensity towards

criminality what we note in present day

is that 50

of people currently incarcerated suffer

from some form of mental illness

and in contrast to the classical school

of thought arguing that we are all

rational actors this suggests that

perhaps not everyone is a rational actor

who weighs the costs and benefits

when they decide to engage in crime in

other words their mental illness may be

impacting their ability to weigh these

costs and benefits

and thereby they are not rational actors

this is something that the positivist

school of thought specifically

the psychological subsection would

consider

importantly freud suggests that in order

to address this issue

one should seek out a psychologist and

this will help them get

into their unconsciousness and discover

what it is that is perhaps

influencing their propensity towards

criminality

the final subsection of the positivist

school of thought

is the sociological subsection and this

considers our

external factors or our environmental

impact on our propensity towards

criminality

now the founding father of the

sociological subsection could

essentially be considered

emile durkheim his famous book suicide

focused on the four reasons why

individuals engage in suicide in society

however within criminology the majority

of our theories

are within the sociological subsection

in other words

focusing on the external factors that

contribute towards criminality

for example when we think of social

learning theory

we argue that criminal behavior is

learned from those in our environment

particularly our family and friends

social disorganization theory offers

another

sociological or criminological theory

within the positivist

school of thought this suggests that a

disorganized community

can contribute towards a higher

propensity towards criminality

now to bring it all home it's important

to remember in easy terms the

distinction between the classical and

the positivist school of thought

is that the classical school of thought

is focused on punishing

the offense we suggest that people are

rational actors

we weigh the costs and benefits and in

order to deter crime we should have

proportional punishments that have been

advertised and when we are punishing

crime the punishment should be swift

alternatively in the positivist school

of thought they suggest that

there is a multitude of internal and

external factors

specifically biological psychological

and sociological

components that contribute towards a

propensity towards criminality

and as such we should take those into

consideration

when engaging in the punishment of crime

so not just focusing on the

offense but also focusing on the

offender's

background please comment below if you

have any questions or concerns

about the two schools of criminological

thought