SOCI 2450 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, Deterrence Theory
18 Feb 2016
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Development of criminology in the uk: criminal jurisprudence, and other parts of criminology came from philosophers and writers in the 1800s (age of enlightenment, different from us and canada, which had its roots in sociological literature. At the time you could be charged because you were an atheist: there were little restrictions to the police. Little protection, with lots of judicial discretion: age of enlightenment (along with rise of common sense) changed how the law was viewed and administered. Different schools of thought: classicalism- developed in england in the 1750s and on. Based on hedonistic psychology (aka hedonistic calculus)- we are rational actors in attempts to maximize pleasure and minimize pain- jeremy bentham). To punish, we have to find a punishment that exceeded the level of pleasure experienced from committing a prohibited act. Some classicism tenets: (1) the law should restrict you as little as possible.
