Summary University Theories of Crime Lecture notes

THEORIES OF CRIME

What is Crime/Criminology?


WHAT WAS CRIMINOLOGY (PAST):
 Criminologists used to me medical doctors
 Criminologist – contemporary term
 Cesare Beccaria (1764) (jurist – law) (Italian) – Dei delitti e delle
pene [Of Crimes and Punishments]
o Moral responsibility
 Beccaria – trying to come up with a manifesto on how
we should determine whether or not someone should
be held/perceived responsible of something they have
done.
 Capability to understand the difference between right
and wrong.
 Consciousness – free will
 Unincumbered – not trapped
o Unincumbered choice – free choice
o Free choice has limits socially and legally
o Criminal responsibility
 Whether you could be held criminally responsible for
your actions
 Choose your actions – punishment is deserved
 Common law/legislation mitigate someone’s
responsibility
o Punishment should fit crime
 Mitigating factors that could limit someone’s ability to
choose their free will – substance abuse, mental illness
o Still structures criminal justice system of England and Wales
 Cesare Lombroso (1876) (Italian) – L’uomo delinquent [Criminal
Man], Turin: Boca