Cesare Beccaria

The crime rate is rapidly increasing among our society today and it seems there are more prisons being built than there are schools in this country. It is clear there is an issue of overpopulation prisons due to the large number of repeat offenders that are present in the criminal system. Consequently, it leads me to believe there should be other options to prevent overpopulation of jails due to repeat offenders. However, one must ask if classical criminology or neoclassical criminology are…

As anticipated the Criminology and Criminal Justice course has been an engaging and appealing course. My prior assumptions and understanding of crime were generally simplistic. Prior to the course I felt criminal behavior was a free will of an individual which is based around calculations. Throughout this essay I will present my views in regards to criminal behavior, Crime, punishment and the reliability of theoretical explanations of crime. Since the first semester I have learnt how my prior…

The death penalty is a legal process where an inmate on death row is sent to execution as punishment for the offense committed. It is a controversial issue where it comes into question if it should be legal. Those who agree with the death penalty argue that it deters people from committing crimes or that without it some criminals would continue to commit crimes. Those who disagree with the death penalty argue that there are innocent people are wrongly executed, some criminals are suffering…

individuals continue to commit crime, where as, others completely desist from crime altogether. One of the most prominent and relevant theories to explain criminal behavior is known as the rational choice theory, which was first introduce by Cesare Beccaria in the late eighteenth century. Gabor et al., (1987) claimed that rational choice theory is, “…Found on the assumption that offenders are more or less rational in their decision making and seek to benefit themselves by their criminal…

Capital punishment is said to be one of the most controversial issue in the United States. Capital punishment is the practice of executing a person as punishment for the crime they have committed. This ethical dilemma has divided Americans into two halves: those “for” capital punishment and those “against” capital punishment. The individuals that are for capital punishment believe that the act is justice and should remain legal. On the other hand, the individuals that are against capital…

The ability to own a gun is a constitutional right. The second amendment of the Bill of Rights gives citizens of the United States the right to bear arms. It reads “[a] well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (Second Amendment.). The right to bear arms is referring to the right to own and carry a weapon. Some scholars believe that the use of the words “a well-regulated militia” as a prefix to…

What is a criminal? Is it someone who murders another individual, steals from his or her friend, robs a liquor store, runs a stop sign, or all of the above? People may think differently of what a criminal can be, but according to the formal definition, a criminal is an individual that is guilty of a crime, which is “an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited” (dictionary.com).…

Criminology is the social-scientific academic study of crime and criminals. It focuses immensely on how and why crime happens and how to prevent it. Many criminologists queried and argued about when criminology first became its own independent discipline. Hayward & Morrison (2009), cited in Hale et al (2009), claimed that theoretical criminology has been an academic discipline for over two centuries. On the contrary, Garland (2002), cited in Newburn (2007) stated that the “new science of…

There is no precise definition for Juvenile Delinquency. The main hurdle in defining the term is that of making a choice between legal definition and a social definition. According to various sociologists the legal definition of juvenile delinquency would not hold good as it does not define the true nature of the term. To understand who juvenile offenders are, why they commit crime, arrest and conviction of a child may depend on various fortuitous circumstances. Another problem posed by them in…

Voluntarism vs Determinism Voluntarism theory supports Cesare Beccaria’s classical theory. The theory acts in accordance with the punishment system proposed by the classical theory, however it adds the section that an individual is aware of his actions and they themselves choose to commit the crime. The punishment…