CMY3701 – SUMMARY OF STUDY
GUIDE
Themes 1-5
, THEME 1: The rational actor model
Study Unit 1.1: The Classical School – The Offender as Calculator
1.1.1 Introduction
Emerged during the Age of Enlightenment (17th–18th centuries).
Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794, Italy): Founder; emphasized crime prevention over
punishment.
Emphasis on reason, individual responsibility, and free choice over tradition or
superstition.
Criticized criminal justice for being unpredictable, discriminatory, inhumane.
Reform principles: law and punishment should be predictable, fair, humane, effective.
Three principles of punishment:
o Certainty: Offenders must be sure they will be punished.
o Swiftness: Punishment should be applied quickly.
o Severity: Punishment should be proportionate to the crime.
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832, Britain): Expanded ideas using pleasure-pain principle
(hedonistic calculus).
Foundation of the rational actor model: offenders weigh costs and benefits before
committing crime.
1.1.2 Assumptions of the Classical School
GUIDE
Themes 1-5
, THEME 1: The rational actor model
Study Unit 1.1: The Classical School – The Offender as Calculator
1.1.1 Introduction
Emerged during the Age of Enlightenment (17th–18th centuries).
Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794, Italy): Founder; emphasized crime prevention over
punishment.
Emphasis on reason, individual responsibility, and free choice over tradition or
superstition.
Criticized criminal justice for being unpredictable, discriminatory, inhumane.
Reform principles: law and punishment should be predictable, fair, humane, effective.
Three principles of punishment:
o Certainty: Offenders must be sure they will be punished.
o Swiftness: Punishment should be applied quickly.
o Severity: Punishment should be proportionate to the crime.
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832, Britain): Expanded ideas using pleasure-pain principle
(hedonistic calculus).
Foundation of the rational actor model: offenders weigh costs and benefits before
committing crime.
1.1.2 Assumptions of the Classical School
