NCJ Number
52376
Date Published
1978
Length
19 pages
Annotation
MAJOR INFLUENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THOUGHT FROM THE 18TH-CENTURY CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY THROUGH CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH ARE TRACED.
Abstract
THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY IS CREDITED WITH WHOLESALE CRIMINAL LAW REFORMS IN THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY. THE CLASSICISTS PRESCRIBED PUNISHMENT AS A VERY LAST RESORT, PREFERRING REWARDS AND EDUCATION AS REMEDIES AND RELYING ON MAN'S PRESUMED RESPONSIVENESS TO SOCIAL CONTROLS. THE CLASSICAL VIEW OF DETERRENCE WAS THE EPITOME OF DUE PROCESS AND PROJECTED AN IMAGE OF FAIRNESS, RESTRAINT, AND EQUITY. THE MESSAGE TO THE OFFENDER WAS THAT CRIME DOES NOT PAY, AND THAT THE PREFERABLE PATH IS TO JOIN THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY IN WORKING TOWARD COMMON ENDS AND ENLIGHTENMENT. THE 19TH CENTURY SAW THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY SCIENCE AND THE IDEA THAT EVERYTHING HAD A NATURAL CAUSE, WHICH COULD BE UNDERSTOOD AND CONTROLLED. IN THE SECOND HALF OF THAT CENTURY, THE POSITIVE SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY, WITH ITS EMPHASIS ON DETERMINISM AND SEARCH FOR CAUSES AND EFFECTS, FLOURISHED. THE POSITIVISTS OBJECTED STRONGLY TO THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL'S BELIEF THAT PUNISHMENT COULD BE MADE TO FIT THE CRIME SIMPLY BY FIXING SENTENCES ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF CRIMINAL ACTS. HOWEVER, THE POSITIVISTS NEVER REALLY LOOKED AT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR OR AT THE OFFENDER'S PERSPECTIVE AND WERE ONLY REMOTELY INTERESTED IN THE OFFENDER'S MOTIVES. THEY WERE SOCIOLOGICAL POSITIVISTS CONCERNED WITH PEOPLE EN MASSE RATHER THAN PSYCHOLOGICAL POSITIVISTS CONCERNED WITH THE INDIVIDUAL. IN THE 1920'S, THE CHICAGO SCHOOL BEGAN TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF SUPPLEMENTING POSITIVIST FINDINGS. CHICAGO SCHOOL RESEARCHERS, THOUGH NOT PSYCHOANALYTICALLY ORIENTED, FAVORED THE GATHERING OF CASE HISTORIES AND USED JUVENILE DELINQUENTS' ACCOUNTS OF THEIR LIVES TO STUDY THE DELINQUENTS' POINTS OF VIEW, THEIR FORMATIVE EXPERIENCES, AND THE INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCES AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS TO WHICH THEY RESPONDED. THE CHICAGO SCHOOL, TOGETHER WITH PSYCHIATRIST WILLIAM HEALY, PIONEERED IN EFFORTS TO LINK RESEARCH TO TREATMENT AND TO DRAW ACTION-RELEVANT INFERENCES FROM RESEARCH FINDINGS. THUS FAR, PSYCHOLOGY HAS FAILED TO ACCOMMODATE THE PUBLIC ON TWO COUNTS: IT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO SINGLE OUT POTENTIAL OFFENDERS BEFORE THEY COMMIT CRIMES, AND IT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO GUARANTEE THAT OFFENDERS WHO ARE RELEASED INTO THE COMMUNITY WILL NOT OFFEND AGAIN. SOME WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND AND TREAT OFFENDERS BE ABANDONED. IT MUST BE REMEMBERED, HOWEVER, THAT CRIME IS NOT A STATISTICAL ABSTRACTION, BUT RATHER THE SUM TOTAL OF CRIMINAL ACTS COMMITTED BY INDIVIDUAL OFFENDERS. TO SOLVE THE CRIME PROBLEM, INDIVIDUAL OFFENDERS MUST BE MOTIVATED NOT TO COMMIT CRIME, AN ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT DEPENDS UPON AN UNDERSTANDING OF OFFENDERS' MOTIVES AND HOW THOSE MOTIVES CAN BE AFFECTED. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (LKM)