CCJ-4614 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Expected Utility Hypothesis, Gary Becker, English Criminal Law
23 Jun 2018
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Chapter 5: Classical and Neoclassical Perspectives
●Introduction
○Neoclassical explanations of crime
■Economic thinking
■Rationality of crime and criminals
●Types of Theory
○Micro and Macro
●Types of Theories
○Biological, psychological and sociological
●From theology to science
○For most of history, religion formed most explanations of human behavior
○Crime and deviance were caused by:
■Gods, Devils, and Demons
●The Age of Reason
○Enlightment Period
■More scientific understanding of natural and social phenomena
■Weakened the influence of religion
■God had left people to govern themselves
●Classical School of Criminology
○Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
■Wrote On Crimes and Punishments in 1764
■Father of Modern Criminology
■Utilitarianism
●Believed in free will and rational choice
●Pleasure principle guides behavior
○People seek to maximize pleasure while simultaneously
avoiding pain
■To control behavior, the criminal justice system need to perform
effectively
■To deter individuals from engaging in crime, punishment should be
●Certain, swift, and severe
○Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
■Another philosopher whose writings impacted English Criminal Law and
helped shape development of first modern police force in London in 1829
●Positivism
○The classical school ignored the forced outside and inside an individual that could
lead to crime
○Auguste Comte suggested forces beyond a person’s control determine human
behavior
Document Summary
For most of history, religion formed most explanations of human behavior. More scientific understanding of natural and social phenomena. God had left people to govern themselves. Wrote on crimes and punishments in 1764. Believed in free will and rational choice. People seek to maximize pleasure while simultaneously avoiding pain. To control behavior, the criminal justice system need to perform effectively. To deter individuals from engaging in crime, punishment should be. Another philosopher whose writings impacted english criminal law and helped shape development of first modern police force in london in 1829. The classical school ignored the forced outside and inside an individual that could lead to crime. Auguste comte suggested forces beyond a person"s control determine human behavior. Led the rise of science as a mode of inquiry. Helped establish credibility of science for understanding human behavior and other social and physical phenomena. All theories under this banner view criminals as rational. There are 3 theories in this area:
