The document summarizes several theories of criminal behavior, beginning with the Classical school in the 18th century. The Classical school believed criminal behavior was a result of free will and could be deterred through proportional punishment. Notable classical theorists included Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. Later critiques found the Classical school ignored individual differences and mental state. Neo-classical theory accounted for those lacking responsibility. Sociological theories emphasized social and environmental influences on crime.

2.  Several theories attempt to explain criminal
behavior. Some theories assume:
 Crime is part of human nature.
 Crime is based on biological, psychological,
sociological, and/or economic aspects.

3.  The classical school came into existence in the
middle of the eighteenth century, a time in history
when punishment for crime was severe and very
intense.
 Two famous writers during this classical period were
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) and Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832)

4.  The Classical school of thought was premised
on the idea that people have free will in
making decisions, and that punishment can be
a deterrent for crime, so long as the
punishment is proportional, fits the crime, and
is carried out promptly.
 It started in Europe. Throughout Europe the
use of torture to secure confessions and force
self-incriminating testimony had been widely
spread.

5.  The classical writers accepted punishment as a
principle method of infliction of pain,
humiliation and disgrace to create ‘fear’ in man
to control his behavior.
 The founders of this school , however,
considered prevention of crime more important
than the punishment for it. So they stressed on
the need for a criminal code.
 So the real contribution of this school was that
it underlined the need for a well defined
criminal justice system.

6. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
He believed that :
Punishment should be deterrent than retributional
 The law should be codified (written) with
punishments prescribed in advance.
 Punishment should be limited (less harsher) to
only that necessary to deter people from ever
committing it again (no capital punishment).
 Punishment should be severe, certain, and swift.
 The criminal justice system should be organized
around crime prevention.

7. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
He believed that:
The punishment reduced future deviance
by instilling a fear of punishment in the
criminal offender and society.
Punishment should be just a bit in excess
of the pleasures derived from the act and
not higher than that.

8.  The major shortcoming of the classical school
was that it proceeded on an abstract
presumption of free will and relied solely on
that act without paying attention to the state of
mind of the criminal.
 It erred in prescribing equal punishment for
same offence thus making no distinction
between first offenders and habitual criminals.

9.  The ‘free will’ theory of classical school did not
survive for long.
 It was soon realized that the exponents of
classical school faltered in their approach in
ignoring the individual differences under
certain situation and treating first offenders
and habitual alike on the basis of similarity of
act or crime.

10.  The neo-classists asserted that certain
categories of offenders such as minors, idiots,
insane or incompetent had to be treated
leniently in matters of punishment irrespective
of the similarity of their criminal act because
these persons were incapable of appreciating
the difference between right and wrong.
 The advocates of this school started with the
basic assumption that man acting on reason
and intelligence is responsible for his conduct,
But those lacking normal intelligence or having
some mental depravity are irresponsible for
their conduct.

11.  Though the neo-classists recommended lenient
treatment for “irresponsible” or mentally
depraved criminals on account of their
incapacity to resist criminal tendency but they
certainly believed that all criminals, whether
responsible or irresponsible, must be kept
segregated from the society.
 Neo-classists adopted subjective approach to
criminology and concentrated their attention
on the conditions under which an individual
commits crime.

12.  This school :
 Used scientific methods
 Based on belief that crime results from forces
that are beyond the control of the individual
 Rejected the notion of free will. Instead,
focused on socialization, genetics, economic
conditions, peer group factors, etc.
So, not all persons were completely responsible
for their actions.

13.  The idea that crime is the product primarily of
people of low intelligence has been popular
occasionally in the United States.
 A study in 1931 showed no correlation between
intelligence and criminality.

14. Psychoanalytic Theories
Psychoanalytic theories of crime
causation are associated with the
work of Sigmund Freud who
believed that people who had
unresolved deep-seated problems
were psychopaths
.

17.  Sociologists emphasize that
human beings live in social
groups and that those groups
and the social structure they
create influence behavior.

18.  In the 1920s, a group of sociologists
known as the Chicago School attempted
to uncover the relationship between a
neighborhood’s crime rate and the
characteristics of the neighborhood.

21.  Robert Merton in 1938 wrote about a
major contradiction in the U.S. between
cultural goals and social structure. He
called the contradiction anomie.

22.  For Merton, the contradiction between the
cultural goal of achieving wealth and the social
structure’s inability to provide legitimate
institutional means for achieving the goal.

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