In this essay, classicist explanations of crime and criminality will be compared and contrasted against positivist explanations of crime and criminality. The social world is always changing, influencing how society views crime (White and Haines, 2008). This causes the explanations provided by different criminological theories to vary. Classicism developed in the 18th century and positivism followed in the 19th century (Tierney, 2006), offering different concepts of criminality, however there are some comparisons. This essay will progress by detailing how the two theories developed, their varying explanations of crime and their implications, showing similarities and differences.
In the Middle Ages, society consisted of poor social order and …show more content…
He searched for biological features within the body to prove criminality, believing criminals were atavistic, evolutionary throwbacks to when crime was socially useful (Hopkins Burke, 2009). He categorised these as born criminals stating they inherited characteristics (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2001) which Lombroso believed made them distinguishable from non-criminals (cited in Jupp, 1989). He later acknowledged environmental factors leading him to identify other criminal types such as criminaloids who were influenced by the environment and therefore opportunity, showing a similarity to classicism as the criminal was believed to make a rational choice when considering criminal opportunities, although Lombroso did not believe criminals were capable of choice. He also spoke of insane criminals who had learning difficulties or poor mental health which relates to psychological positivism and criminals of passion those who were drawn to crime by extreme emotions (Barlow and Kauzlarich, 2010), which relates to sociological …show more content…
It is believed these traumatic experiences can interrupt normal development, causing an individual to dissociate from real life (Gross, 2010). This can result in the person unconsciously committing crime (Saxe, 2001) due to anger and as an attempt to avoid the pain again (Gross, 2010). This can also be related to classicism as reference is made to hedonistic behaviour by the analysis of pain however it could be argued that it is impossible to make a rational decision due to the unconscious mind, opposing rational choice. Despite his influence, Freud was often rejected as it could be questioned how repetitive traumas can be forgotten (Gross,
In the Middle Ages, society consisted of poor social order and …show more content…
He searched for biological features within the body to prove criminality, believing criminals were atavistic, evolutionary throwbacks to when crime was socially useful (Hopkins Burke, 2009). He categorised these as born criminals stating they inherited characteristics (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2001) which Lombroso believed made them distinguishable from non-criminals (cited in Jupp, 1989). He later acknowledged environmental factors leading him to identify other criminal types such as criminaloids who were influenced by the environment and therefore opportunity, showing a similarity to classicism as the criminal was believed to make a rational choice when considering criminal opportunities, although Lombroso did not believe criminals were capable of choice. He also spoke of insane criminals who had learning difficulties or poor mental health which relates to psychological positivism and criminals of passion those who were drawn to crime by extreme emotions (Barlow and Kauzlarich, 2010), which relates to sociological …show more content…
It is believed these traumatic experiences can interrupt normal development, causing an individual to dissociate from real life (Gross, 2010). This can result in the person unconsciously committing crime (Saxe, 2001) due to anger and as an attempt to avoid the pain again (Gross, 2010). This can also be related to classicism as reference is made to hedonistic behaviour by the analysis of pain however it could be argued that it is impossible to make a rational decision due to the unconscious mind, opposing rational choice. Despite his influence, Freud was often rejected as it could be questioned how repetitive traumas can be forgotten (Gross,