Classical Criminology
Martin Luther, Catholic Monk
● initiated a spiritual revolt against Roman Catholic Church
● Church = all power
● Reformation
=
revolution
of
religion
in
Europe
Humanism = non-religious philosophy
● Emphasizes the value of humans + their ability to shape their own lives
● Indulgences = purchasing forgiveness for sins (pay money to church)
● Birth of Protestant Reformation --- spread his thesis
● Church put him on trial = heretic
● He spread his word through: printed press + translated from Latin to language for the
general public
● Priest Monk spoke out: greed + corruption of church
● Nailed copy of thesis to church doors (Oct 31st 1517)
Population Growth in Europe: distribution of nation = changing (heterogeneous)
● New forms of social control needed, why?
● Because:
○ don’t know neighbors
○ Social values and morals aren’t the same for everyone
○ Previous heavy reliance on humiliation in public space (not effective when you
don’t know the person)
Enlightenment period (not renaissance, period just before, small overlap)
● The reason is idealized:
○ question tradition
○ being governed by rulers that cannot be questioned
○ want to look at things differently
● Surge in science
○ Goes beyond supernatural + religion
○ Don’t take things at face value anymore
○ Secular society
● Focus on humanism
○ Philosophy that shifted a persons faith from being determined from religion to man
himself
○ Before: crime = sin
○ Spiritual + emotional needs fulfilled w/o need for religion
○ Self-actualization --- with reason NOT religion
○ Humans at center of universe NOT god
○ Human should focus on: art, literature, science
○ Attention starts on Greek + Latin
● Individuals have free will
○ Control over wants
○ Ability to make choice
○ Choose what they do or don’t engage in
○ Responsible for behaviour
● Individuals are rational beings
○ Can reasonably choose a course of action by weighing pros and cons
○ Humans are hedonistic
○ Want to maximize pleasure and minimize pain
The Influence of Enlightenment Thinkers
● Hobbes wrote LEVIATHAN in 1651
● Thomas Hobbes
● Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire
● THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)
● The primitive state of man is: evil, selfish, short-lived + brutish
● This causes people to: live in fear all the time (afraid of being hurt or killed)
● What are people willing to do to gain security and feel safe? People are willing to give up
personal autonomy in return for security
The social contract
● Will form the basis of society
● FREEDOM is good but SECURITY is better
● An unwritten agreement where people give up some freedom in exchange for the
State’s protection
Government by the consent of the governed.
● Huge difference from Middle Ages
● New type of government rules by the people, NOT the church or monarch
● gov. democratically chosen (for the people, by the people, of the people)
Laws = rules that all citizens must follow
Crime = violation of social contract
● Breeching contract
● Gov. has right to punish individual
● Ppl
can
invest
in
laws
because
they are
protected
by the
government.
Based on the principle of utilitarianism
● The greatest amount of good for the greatest number of ppl
● Giving up rights bc. Will create the greatest amount of good for the most amount of people
in society
Criminal Justice Context
● Punishment of Middle Ages: harsh, arbitrary, inconsistent
● Bloody code (1688-1815)
● Many crimes = punishable by death
● Judges started getting hesitant to find ppl guilty bc, the punishment was so severe
● Affected general deterrence
● Death spectacle = too gruesome
● Death punishment lost deterrence + crime rate would NOT go down
● Transportation NOT an option anymore (1776 = independence)
● Hulks = solution
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
●
Italian Aristocrat and philosopher with a law degree
●
Belonged to the Academy of Fists
○ Formed: Academy of Fists
○ Come together
○ Speak of: social problems + political reform
○ Beccaria toured prisons: appalled by corruption + beginning forms of jail
○ Jails = private enterprise
■ Run for profit
■ You would pay for your own food, accommodations, etc
■ If later acquitted, still paid fees
■ Moral breeding grounds (EVERYONE put together)
■ Rapid spread of disease
■ Barbaric
●
In 1764, Published anonymously “On crimes and punishment’’
○ Why publish anonymously?
○ Going against system
○ Attack
○ Avoid prosecution
○ Later excommunicated bc it was condemned + prohibited (until 1960)
● Provided a overall critique of CJS
○ Provided overall critique of the CJS (correctional justice system)
●
○ Protested the unfair treatment
■ AGAINST torture
■ AGAINST secret trials
■ AGAINST inconsistencies in treatment
Advocated for reforms
○ Change not abolition
○ Keep jails BUT change to reflect ideals of enlightenment
Key Principles of Classical Criminology:
1. Social contract – Beccaria bases his stuff on this
2. Free will – people are in control of themselves
3. Rationality – idea of weighing the pros and cons
4. Hedonism – maximize pleasure and minimize pain
But first, let's get to know each other a little bit more
BENEFITS:
● Fun and exciting
● Not using your money
● Doing what you want
● Satisfying a need
● Social acceptance from your peers
● much easier + convenient
● Satisfaction of getting away
● Revenge
● Public attention
RISKS:
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Jail
Getting caught
Changes people's opinion of you
Consequences on others
Future repercussions
Hefty fine
Affect your livelihood
Feel guilty
Goes against personal morals
According to classical criminology
● When a crime is committed, it is because:
● The individual has free will and has rationally chosen to break the law after considering
the possible rewards and punishments
● But how exactly do we weigh the potential benefits and possible consequences of our
actions?
● How do we weigh the benefits?
Jeremy Bentham
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Many of the same ideas of Beccaria but in a different location
Beccaria – aristocrat in Italy
Bentham – England
Wanted his body embalmed (display University College of London)
The Hedonistic Calculus
● Maximize pleasure + minimise pain
● People will act like human calculator and calculate the pleasure vs pain of the behaviour
and wether or not to engage in it
● Will use this calculation before engaging in any act (buying lottery ticket, crime, etc)
● 7 Dimensions:
1. Intensity: how strong or how intense is the pleasure/pain ----- the greater the intensity the
greater weight it will carry in the decision
2. Duration: longer lasting pain/pleasure = more weight in the decision
3. Certainty: how certain will the pain/pleasure will occur. If outcome certain, will hold
more weight. If outcome uncertain, wont hold as much weight
4. Propinquity: How soon will the pleasure/pain be experienced? Immediately or later?
5. Fecundity: Will the pleasure/pain lead to more pleasure/pain
6. Purity: Is it purely pleasure/pain or a mix of the two?
7. Extent: How many people will be affected/impacted by the pleasure/pain – the more
people = greater significance
a. Scenario: Married man, 2 kids, go to the bar and calculates if he will cheat or not
i.
Intensity: Pleasure: can be strong & Pain: may be intense if wife founds
out
b. Duration
i.
Pleasure: last a short time (few hours) & Pain: divorce will cause pain for
long
c. Certainty
i.
Pleasure: can be pleasurable but maybe it won't be & Pain: will cause pain
if founds out or guilty conscious
d. Propinquity
i.
Pleasure: immediate & Pain: will come later (near future possibly)
e. Fecundity
i.
Pleasure: can cheat again with same woman or a different one & Pain: lose
wife, kids, dies alone a.k.a downward spiral
f. Purity
i.
The pleasure can come with pain
g. Extent
i.
Pleasure: just the two in the sexual encounter & Pain: extends to wife,
kids, family, social circle
Hmmm…
●
Does the threat of punishment discourage people from committing crime?
○ Maybe a little because there is pain in the experience
○ Deterrence = people think they will get caught so won't commit crime
○ How severe the punishment/crime ---- jaywalking = small punishment, not so
much of a crime murder = big punishment, big crime
○ Attention seeking = some people may not want the negative spotlight on them but
others may want the attention and will do anything
○ Guilt = moral consciousness
○ Punishment does discourage people if not people would be all out doing crimes
all the time
○ People with strain commit crimes even if there’s a punishment because they have
nothing to lose…….. Homeless person robs store for food
What is the goal of punishment?
● Deterrence: refers to the use of punishment to prevent people from committing crime
1. Specific: punish individual that committed a crime to discourage them from committing
crime in the future
2. General: setting an example to the general public to make them fear the punishment
a. Example: gouv. Sets out a warning that ppl who drive higher than 10km/h over
the limit will get a punishment of 500$ fine and remove license (announced in
news). A wealthy and known businessman is caught going 15 km/h over the speed
limit. The case was widespread now people are fearful that the same will happen
to them if they commit the same crime
b. Beccaria emphasized general because it's better to prevent crime than to punish
them
1. Swift: must be handed down in a timely fashion. If someone commits a crime the
punishment should follow right after.
2. Certain = know what you’re doing
a. Crime is a consequence of irrational and ineffective laws. People need to be
discouraged from committing crime.
3. Severe: the punishment needs to be proportionate to the crime. If the punishment is too
severe, the people will commit more serious crimes because the punishment is already
severe so why not?
a. Ex: robbing someone and it's looking bad. Robbery and Murder have the same
penalty. The robber will kill the clerk to eliminate witnesses for the chance of not
being identified.
Abolished in Canada in 1976
Opinions on death row:
● Easy way out
● Wrong convictions
● Sending the wrong message/useless
● Eye for an eye
The Death Penalty
1. Violated the social contract
a. 1) people are willing to give up some freedom/rights for protection however they
don’t agree to give up their life for the social contract
2. Cruel, Barbaric and not proportionate
a. Lived in a time where death penalty was everywhere and he wanted that to change
3.
Ineffective deterrent
a. 3) Won’t stop people from committing crime later, people are more fearful of
being locked up than losing their life
4. illogical to punish death with death
a. 4) Sending the wrong message (killing is not ok so we will kill the killer)
5. Need disciplined workers
a. Wasteful to get rid of able-bodied people for work by killing them
In the pursuit of justice…
Nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without law)
○ What are the reforms and changes that Beccaria wanted???
○ No crime without law: no person should be convicted for a crime if its not
outlined in the law that the act is indeed a crime
●
Laws must be codified, available and understandable
○ Laws must be codified, available and understandable: the law should be written in
a language that people understand
The law must apply equally to all people
○ The law must apply equally to all people: the punishment was more severe for the
lower class and was sometimes inexistant for upper class members
Who determines the punishment for a crime?
○ Who determines the punishment for a crime? Legislator (elected by the people)
establishes the laws and punishments NOT the judge
What is the role of the judge??
○ What is the role of the judge? Apply the punishment attached to the offense
What will the judge focus on?
○ Acteus reus (guilty act) NO mens rea (guilty mind)
Must do away with torture:
○ Torture is Problematic = tortured before even being convicted/named guilty +
false confessions from torture
● Timely, impartial + public = still applied today
● Cruel and unusual punishments must be abolished
● Prison conditions must be improved
○ Prisons now how are they classified?
■ Security levels (medium levels, maximum security)
■ Protective Custody (sexual crimes)
■ Age (juvy 12-17)
■ Sexe (men + women)
■ Solitary confinement
■ Mental health patients (institutionalized rather than prison)
■ Length of sentence (provincials/federal)
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The Evolution of Punishment and Corrections
Costs to Incarcerate Inmates
● It costs $120,000 to incarcerate a male federal offender.
● It costs $230,000 to incarcerate a female federal offender.
● There are fewer female offenders, therefore it is more costly to operate a female
institution.
Why Were Prisons Originally Called Penitentiaries?
● The goal was to make inmates feel penitent.
● Meaning they wanted prisoners to repent their crimes and express sorrow and remorse
and seek forgiveness.
The Penitentiary
● The belief was that the criminal is a rational being that can be reformed.
● The goal was to transform the criminal from a convict into an industrious and useful
citizen.
How?
1. Remove corrupting influences
○ If individuals were removed from corrupting influences, it would facilitate their
transformation.
2. Through penitence
○ Give criminals the opportunity to give penance.
○ They can repent and seek forgiveness.
3. Hard Labour
○ Transforming criminals by subjecting them to hard labour and making them work.
○ Often times the labour was very difficult or very boring and repetitive.
4. Teach Discipline/Enforcing Routine
○ Subjected to daily routines.
○ By forcing routine, it facilitates their transformation.
5. Punishment
○ Making the prisoner uncomfortable.
○ For example, the food that they are fed (coarse diet).
○ Disciplinary sanctions: when inmates misbehaved, they were punished for their
wrongdoings.
○ The bell was the symbol of discipline and controlled the convicts' day.
Three Different Prison Models
The Pennsylvania Model
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Built in Philadelphia in 1829.
A cell with a bed and a piece of machinery.
Based on separation and total isolation.
The inmate never left their cell.
They slept, ate, and worked in the cell.
No communication with other inmates or outsiders.
This was to prevent contamination from outside corrupting influences.
● This would give prisoners time to reflect on their ways.
● Problems:
○ High rates of insanity, high rates of suicide.
○ Lack of exercise and movement.
○ High expenses to design, build, and operate this model.
The Auburn Model
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Established in New York.
Cells were very small and narrow.
Inmates are only in their cell when they are sleeping.
In the day, they come out of their cell.
They eat and work amongst other inmates.
Silent Association
○ Communication (verbal or non-verbal) would lead to severe punishments.
○ Punishment for men would be getting whipped and flogged.
○ Punishment for women would be solitary confinement.
● Productivity
○ Allowing inmates to work together (even without talking) was cost-effective and
led to more productivity.
○ The prisons would get outside contractors to make the prisoners work.
● Restrictions
○ No visits, phone calls, writing letters.
○ Meant to make them work hard and engage in penance whilst in silence.
The Lockstep Shuffle
● Black and white pinstripe uniform originated from the Auburn model.
● The uniforms were meant to dehumanize and assimilate prisoners and be able to identify
between guard and inmate.
● Inmates stand in a line and walk in unison.
● Most times inmates' legs were connected by a chain.
● The Chain Gang
○ Meant to help maintain control of inmates.
○ Meant to control the body and exert power over the mind.
The Panopticon
● Designed by Jeremy Bentham.
● Cells were situated in a circular design with a guard tower in the middle.
● The guard tower used stained glass so that prisoners couldn't see but guards could see
out.
● This made prisoners think they were always under surveillance, increasing selfregulation.
Kingston Penitentiary
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The first prison in Canada.
Opened June 1, 1835.
Maximum secure institution.
Closed September 30, 2013.
Closed because the infrastructure of the building was deteriorating.
Based on the Auburn model.
Classification of Offenders
○ Classified according to sex.
○ Children were still grouped with adults.
○ Women were in the same institution up until 1934.
○ After 1934, an institution was built across the street for women.
● Extensive Use of Corporal Punishment
● Differential Response to Males and Females
● Opposition from Labour Groups
○ Opposition from labour groups because they were concerned that teaching
prisoners trade would impact tradespeople and the economy.
The Brown Commission (1848-1849)
● A lot of corruption behind closed doors.
● Two Reports:
1. Report 1 condemned the use of corporal punishment and recommended the
removal of the warden.
2. Report 2 gave suggestions on how the prison should handle prisoners.
The Beginning of Modern Reform (1930-1970)
● Changes to the strict rules of silence.
● Inmates could now talk to each other before work, during lunch, and after work until 7
PM.
● Inmates got paid for their work.
● Prisoners displaying good conduct were granted:
○ Lighting in their cells to read.
○ Permission to write one letter every three months.
○ One 30-minute visit per month.
Post-WW2 Corrections
● Shift from deterrence to rehabilitation.
● Medical Model of Corrections:
○ Offender is ill (mentally, physically, and/or socially) and their behavior is
symptomatic of underlying factors.
○ Focus on diagnosis and treatment.
○ Increasing involvement of professionals.
○ Expansion of community centres for rehabilitation outside the prison.
Additional Notes
● Progressive reforms included introducing better living conditions and reducing extreme
punishments.
● Parole system development allowed some prisoners to reintegrate into society under
supervision.
● Restorative justice approaches started emerging, focusing on rehabilitation over
punishment.
● Privatization of prisons became a debate in the modern era, questioning the ethics of
profit-driven correctional institutions.