Comprehensive Analysis: Classical Readings in Criminology, Law

This report provides an overview of classical criminology, exploring various schools of thought and their contributions to understanding crime and criminal behavior. It begins with the classical school, contrasting it with supernatural explanations and highlighting its emphasis on rationality and deterrence. The report then delves into positivism, examining its scientific approach and focus on offender characteristics. Sociological positivism is explored, emphasizing the influence of social factors on crime. The report further analyzes critical perspectives, including Quinney's crime control capitalism and Critcher's moral panic analysis. Additionally, it covers populist conservative criminology and feminist criminology, discussing their respective viewpoints on crime causation and the role of gender. The report includes references to key readings and authors within the field.

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CLASSICAL READINGS IN CRIMINOLOGY
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Subject: Criminal Law
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1. Mayor (2001): The Classical School
The emergence of classical schools attempted to explain crime and criminal behavior before it
the same was explained by supernatural powers and forces of nature. The super-naturalists
assumed that good behavior and character stemmed from God's power while evil behavior was
the devil's doings. This was traced to the Garden of Eden when the first pair chose not to obey
divine injunction rendering man's life under agony. They neglected the doctrinal power and
attempted to explain the world through science.
The 18th Century saw the rising aristocracy and challenges of the church during which the
church, government, and legal systems were challenged for their inadequacy. Religion was
viewed as an instrument of torture while the justice system never had equality for all. The
classical school, therefore, rejects the assumption of superpower and relooks at human beings as
being rational who make their own choices. One's ability to control themselves at the micro and
the macro changes that shape human life were fundamental. The rational nature of human beings
makes them seek pleasure and avoid pain or punishment in their decisions and that is why the
criminal code specified punishment to deter crime. When Beccaria (1963) got interested in
penology he appealed to the enlightened rulers of Europe to use coercive power in crushing petty
tyrannies who depended on aristocratic privilege and abuse. He also classified crimes into those
that destroy society or a person represented, those that injure the security of a citizen and those
that disrupt public peace. The classification was aimed at measuring the crime which would be
based on harm caused by the crime. He also challenged the origin of law as punishment but
rather as a framework within which the society is established and operates.

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On the other hand, Benthan shared a lot of stands that Beccaria but he also believed that the role
of science is to be good, stated the principle of utility when it comes to pain and pleasure.
Whereas it was Beccaria who introduced the issue of utilitarianism, Benthan expounded on it.
2. Newburn (2013): Positivism and Criminology
After Darwin's great publication whose emphasis was a natural selection that shaped the life of a
human being rather than the influence of a supernatural being, criticism arose. Auguste Conte
laid a foundation for sociology during which positivist criminology also arose. This school of
thought holds several assumptions that include methods used in natural science that can be
applied and they have to be applied to social sciences. The source of the knowledge we hold
comes from observation but scientific knowledge is derived from facts that are collected and
analyzed appropriately. This implies that the scientific approach to knowledge is superior
compared to the observational approach to acquiring knowledge.
There is a need to distinguish facts from values. There should be hypothetical-deductive
reasoning from the time one collects data to the time conclusions are drawn from the same data.
At the same time, when scientific methods of knowing are used in combination with deducting
reasoning then a powerful preference arises on quantitative data compared to qualitative data.
The positivist approach to criminology concentrated on the offender and looked at this person as
being determined such that they are driven by biological, psychological and other pathological
influences to commit crimes. Therefore the most appropriate treatment to such an individual
would be highly dependent on the circumstances that drove them to criminality rather than
punishment.

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Lombroso (1876) viewed criminals as a throwback to some primitive stages of development
which was associated with inferior physiological features found in lower primates. This also
touched on biological regression whose origin was a less civilized mentality and human
behavior. According to him, being criminal would identify by identifying some characteristics
which resemble those of other animals and it could be physically seen. He further looked at the
factors which make one a criminal hence ended up identifying an epileptic criminal, an insane
criminal, occasional criminal, and a born criminal. Women were looked at as less advanced and
with high crime, tendencies compare to me.
Ferri and Garofalo elaborated work done by Lmbroso where Ferri talks much about the
environmental influence on an individual. On his side, Garofalo was convinced that the scientific
approach to knowledge cannot be downplayed. On the other side, Charles Goring argued that
there was no significant difference in the physical appearance of criminals and non-criminals.
3. Burke (2009): Sociological positivism
The sociological positivism espouses that behaviors identified as criminal are just a deviation
from the norm. Emile Durckheim proposes that people commit crimes because there is no strong
authority to influence them to do otherwise. Furthermore, the dualistic nature of a human being
in terms of body and soul is brought out. Individuals are not human until they have been
socialized.
According to the Chicago school, the poor are not born criminals but rather the conditions drive
them into the crime they commit. This stems from the fact that the growth of a human being is
patterned by human communities. Shaw and McKay emphasized the connection of an organism's
neighborhood in either allowing or preventing crimes among children and young people.

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On the other side, Merton does not only look at one committing a crime as a single aspect but
rather looks at it in the form of deviance of an entire person which leads him to anomie theory.
Aspects of conformity, retreatism, ritualism, innovation, and rebellion all contribute to the
sociological positivism. The rise of deviant subculture in society is based on some social groups
holding values and attitudes which are encouraging to delinquency. This is criticized by Matza
based on the observation that young offenders grow up to become non-offenders.
4. Quinney (1978): Crime Control Capitalism
Quinney takes a critical approach in which he proposes that there is no adequate understanding
of contemporary existence. Each way of thinking has a means of either liberating or oppressing
society. The positivism takes a simple epistemology which separates the knower from the
known. This objectivity is assumed but only concentrates on explaining events while at the same
time ignoring the explanation of examination. It is not reflective.
Social constructionism questions reality and existence without putting into consideration an
individual's imagination yet observations are based on constructions of the mind. It concentrates
on the world which is created by social constructions but does not look at the social constructions
and the way they came into existence. The phenomenological approach looks at the process of
knowing but ignores the fact that knowing takes place when there is consciousness. On the other
hand, the critical philosophy is anchored on the roots of human lives especially the fundamentals
of consciousness. The current modes of thought have made it impossible for human beings to
understand the legal order and therefore a critical view is the most appropriate when it comes to
understanding the legal order.

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5. Critcher (2008): Moral Panic Analysis
Critcher brings out the moral panic model in which the capitalist democracies use moral panic
making people keep on wondering when the next panic will come. There is an alleged problem
and its consequences which can either be brought up as a fabrication or an exaggeration and
media is used. This panic prevents one to link them to other issues like health but it is not
explained when it comes to the role played by the public because they are expected to form
public opinion. The role of mass media is also downplayed on this, furthermore, this is a
complex phenomenon that still needs further examination.
6. Burke(2009): Populist Conservative Criminology
Burke proposals on populist Conservative criminology have been criticized such that crime is not
determined by the social conditions surrounding an individual but rather the tendency and
behavior of an individual. An attempt to search for the causes of crime can be a waste of time
because no helpful information will be gathered on this. It is also argued that people choose to
commit crimes and this will remain the same even if the government had to enact punishment
measures. The argument that an improvement of the social conditions will reduce crimes because
of crime being caused by these social conditions has also been opposed.
The war against crimes can be successful but critics still doubt if this can come to pass and they
go ahead instead to propose that to prevent crimes there has to be a repeated assertion of a strong
social authority which should be based on traditional morality.
7. Gwynn (1993): Feminist Criminology
Gwyan attempts to look at women and crime in the feminist and criminology. It has been noted
that it has been known that men were perpetrators of crime and criminal activity because they are

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aggressive and masculine. At the same time, few records painted women with criminal records
and whenever it happened it was termed as deviance from female-roles. It is therefore considered
that women are more law-abiding compared to men, they are less dangerous, less delinquent and
are less involved in crimes. The feminist criminologists have launched an attack on these
explanations and termed them as male-dominated. They are now looking at these explanations as
stereotypes rather than as theories. This theory is under development but it stresses the role of
patriarchal oppressions and sexists ideological practices when it comes to analyzing female
crimes. Questions on whether women are wholly bad or mad are being used to discuss topics on
female offenders.
References
Readings