Essay On Positive Criminology

Classical criminology is based off subjective methods that are not grounded in scientific reasoning and came about in the late eighteenth century. According to Bernard, Snipes and Gerould (2010), classical criminologists believe that crime is due to free-will “based off deliberateness, intent, and understanding of right and wrong” (p. 9). Hobbes “social contract” counter-argued the spiritualists view with a naturalistic view and posited that people are ingrained to seek out their personal interests while disregarding others. In short humans are all about the “me, myself and I attitude” however, people will conform to societal rules as long as everyone else does, because they are tired of fighting “the war against all” (p.15). Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau also posited that …show more content…
Positive criminology is based off objective methods that are scientific in nature. Positive criminology posits that criminals are different than the non-criminal population and that these characteristics increase the likely hood of becoming a criminal, thus leaving people with little control over their actions. In the nineteenth century, Cesare Lombroso used Darwin’s theory of evolution to explain that criminals were atavistic and born criminal. Body type theories believed that physical appearance and temperament are intertwined, whereas hereditary factors that cause criminal behavior have the ability to change over time due to our environment. Positive criminologists believe in-order to prevent crime the underlying cause must be treated or eliminated. The underlying cause maybe biologically or environmental in that the nervous system fails to function at optimal levels due to genetic or chemical imbalance. The positivist focused more on the internal aspect of why we do the things we do or crime