Classical School Criminology

Sociological Theories of Deviance

Sociology 3305

UMD

A theory of social control with specific suggestions toward penal measures for criminals.

Assumptions:
  1. All persons being by nature self-seeking are liable to commit crime. (Adam Smithian view of human nature.)
  2. There is a consensus on the desirability of protecting private property, personal welfare and current distributions (power, life chances, etc.).
  3. Free will is a psychological reality, people freely enter a social contract with the state to preserve peace and the consensus. Pleasure-Pain motivation.
  4. The laws represent a crystallization of the moral consensus.
  5. All people are rational.
  6. The individual is responsible for his/her actions and is equal.

Derived assumptions:
  1. Lawbreaking behavior is the result of the irrational acts of certain individuals, who, due to their personal inadequacies are unable to uphold the contract with the society or the state.
  2. Social contract theorists maintain special access to the criteria needed to judge the rationality of an act. These criteria are based on the measures of utility developed by the theorists themselves.

Assumptions about punishment:
  1. Punishment is to deter the individual from violating the interests of others. (It is the option of the state to execute this punishment since the individual freely formed the society.)
  2. Punishments must be proportional to the interests violated by the crime. Focus is thus on the act. Punishment should not be in excess of this nor should it be used for reformation as this would encroach on the rights of the sanctity of the individual.
  3. There should be as little law as possible, and its implementation should be delineated by due process.
  4. Punishment should seek to reward useful activity and punish damaging activity.
  5. Punishment should be consistently applied according to the crime: there are no mitigating circumstances or special cases. Neo-classical school Allows mitigating circumstances.

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Last modified on Mon Mar 11