Sociology
Explain how crime and criminal justice have been theorised?
Criminology is now generally referred to as classical criminology which came into its own right 60/ 70 years ago, although it emerged around 130 years ago. It can be argued criminology emerged when the criminal justice system began to be questioned and the concern over identifying differences between criminals and non-offenders (Garland, 1994). There are various theories on criminology; those that will be discussed are theoretical explanations of crime and punishment, inspection and surveillance, criminal typing, and the normal and pathological.
Systems of punishments in the 17th and 18th centuries were bloody and cruel because they were based on retribution or revenge. …show more content…
Positivism is associated with such writers, although his work is now largely discredited. His most famous work The Criminal Man in 1876, was the study of inmates some of which were autopsies. Lombroso examined 400 non-offenders who were Italian soldiers and 90 lunatics as he described them. Lombroso described criminals as being a separate species from the normal human race with a variety of mental problems and different physical characteristics. Some of these differences were the shape and size of their heads, eye defects, unusually sized ears, nose twisted and imbalance of the brain; these are only a few of the many characteristics Lombroso thought made you a criminal (Wolfgang, 1960). Lombroso assumed criminals were born not made, by assuming this you would have to assume that criminals can't help commit crimes and so shouldn't be punished, as it's inevitable. When it came to women they were dismissed as being less advanced than men (Wolfgang 1960). Although Lombrosos theory's have now been abandoned the broader approach had a huge impact on criminology as many works have been inspired by Lombroso and it led to the consideration of social and environmental causes behind criminal …show more content…
Durkheim seen crime as an action that offended against the collective consciences of a society, the punishment only happens when this moral code is seen as being violated. Durkheim highlights an important criminological truth a crime is a crime because we condemn it, we don't condemn it because its a crime and what is criminal is that which shocks a community as a collective; the actions don't shock us because it is criminal (Durkheim, 1972). Durkheims chose to work on suicide because it was considered to be a deviant act. Suicide was also considered to be individualistic as opposed to a social phenomenon. Durkheim showed that suicide could be caused by the sociological side of life e.g. religion, social structures and economic conditions. Using statistics he found suicide was lower in Catholic countries than Protestant countries, single people were more likely to commit suicide than those who were married and suicide was higher in those suffering from economic stability. Durkheim came up with four types of suicide altruistic, egotistic, anomic and fatalistic. Anomic suicide was seen to be due to the regulation of individuals, the constraints which are put in place to limit human behaviour and desires. Durkheims work has influenced a new way of thinking in criminological theory and the sociological approach to crime and crime
Explain how crime and criminal justice have been theorised?
Criminology is now generally referred to as classical criminology which came into its own right 60/ 70 years ago, although it emerged around 130 years ago. It can be argued criminology emerged when the criminal justice system began to be questioned and the concern over identifying differences between criminals and non-offenders (Garland, 1994). There are various theories on criminology; those that will be discussed are theoretical explanations of crime and punishment, inspection and surveillance, criminal typing, and the normal and pathological.
Systems of punishments in the 17th and 18th centuries were bloody and cruel because they were based on retribution or revenge. …show more content…
Positivism is associated with such writers, although his work is now largely discredited. His most famous work The Criminal Man in 1876, was the study of inmates some of which were autopsies. Lombroso examined 400 non-offenders who were Italian soldiers and 90 lunatics as he described them. Lombroso described criminals as being a separate species from the normal human race with a variety of mental problems and different physical characteristics. Some of these differences were the shape and size of their heads, eye defects, unusually sized ears, nose twisted and imbalance of the brain; these are only a few of the many characteristics Lombroso thought made you a criminal (Wolfgang, 1960). Lombroso assumed criminals were born not made, by assuming this you would have to assume that criminals can't help commit crimes and so shouldn't be punished, as it's inevitable. When it came to women they were dismissed as being less advanced than men (Wolfgang 1960). Although Lombrosos theory's have now been abandoned the broader approach had a huge impact on criminology as many works have been inspired by Lombroso and it led to the consideration of social and environmental causes behind criminal …show more content…
Durkheim seen crime as an action that offended against the collective consciences of a society, the punishment only happens when this moral code is seen as being violated. Durkheim highlights an important criminological truth a crime is a crime because we condemn it, we don't condemn it because its a crime and what is criminal is that which shocks a community as a collective; the actions don't shock us because it is criminal (Durkheim, 1972). Durkheims chose to work on suicide because it was considered to be a deviant act. Suicide was also considered to be individualistic as opposed to a social phenomenon. Durkheim showed that suicide could be caused by the sociological side of life e.g. religion, social structures and economic conditions. Using statistics he found suicide was lower in Catholic countries than Protestant countries, single people were more likely to commit suicide than those who were married and suicide was higher in those suffering from economic stability. Durkheim came up with four types of suicide altruistic, egotistic, anomic and fatalistic. Anomic suicide was seen to be due to the regulation of individuals, the constraints which are put in place to limit human behaviour and desires. Durkheims work has influenced a new way of thinking in criminological theory and the sociological approach to crime and crime