NCJ Number
136132
Date Published
1990
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Cesare Beccaria's 18th century essay on crime and punishment applied hedonistic doctrine to penology and emphasized deterrence and just deserts.
Abstract
Students of criminology have found Becarria's principles to be based on the theory of free will, a society of rational human beings, and hedonism. Beccaria contended that the aim of punishment is to prevent future crime through deterrence and incapacitation. He said that punishment must be strictly delimited so that it is proportionate to the crime committed and the harm done. He further posited that society is comprised of groups who are in conflict with each other and that the law represents an institutionalized tool of the ruling class. He also indicated that criminality is not strictly a biological, psychological, or even behavioral phenomenon, but rather a social status defined by the way in which an individual is perceived, evaluated, and treated by legal authorities. Beccaria aimed at a scale of punishments to correspond to the gravity or weight of given criminal actions and recognized that criminal justice alone cannot prevent criminality. In addition, he believed in the protection of human rights, as reflected in his staunch support for legality in criminal law, his total rejection of torture in any form, his view of gender equality, and his demand for the humane treatment of prisoners. Further, Beccaria condemned cruel and and unnecessary infliction of pain for the sake of punishment, rejected capital punishment, and supported the political independence of the judiciary and open and public trials. 45 references and 5 notes