Classical and Neoclassical Perspectives

1. Classical and Neoclassical Perspectives Lesson 4

2. Classical and Neoclassical Perspectives Lesson Overview From theology to science Causes of crime and deviance: gods and demons Age of reason Classical school of criminology Rise of positivism Neoclassical Perspectives: Rational Choice Theory Deterrence Theory Types of Deterrence Routine Activities theory

3. Understanding Theories of Crime • Theories of crime try to answer at least 1 of 3 questions: • Why are some people more likely than others to commit crime? • Why are some categories of people more likely than others to commit crime? • Why is crime more common in some locations than in others?

4. Understanding Theories of Crime • Biological and psychological explanations tend to focus on the individual • Biological explanations place the cause of crime inside the individual • Neoclassical and sociological explanations tend to focus on categories of people and locations • Sociological explanations place the cause of crime outside the individual

5. From Theology to Science • Gods and Demons as Causes of Crime and Deviance • People in ancient times were thought to act deviantly for several reasons: • God was testing their faith • God was punishing them • God was using their behavior to warn others to follow Him • They were possessed by demons

6. The Age of Reason • Enlightenment • Belief that people have their own free will and reason • God does not directly control human behavior • Despite this age of reason, the death penalty was used for over 200 crimes in England

7. The Classical School of Criminology • 1738-1794: Cesare Beccaria (father of modern criminology) • On Crimes and Punishments • Utilitarianism • 1748-1832: Jeremy Bentham • Law was more severe than it needed to be to keep rational people from committing crime

8. The Rise of Positivism • Use of scientific method to study human behavior • Postulated human behavior is affected by outside forces • Founded by August Comte • One problem is theory assumes criminals are different from “the rest of us”

9. Neoclassical Perspectives • Rational-choice theory assumes people choose to commit crime after calculating whether its rewards outweigh risks • Derek B. Cornish and Ronald V. Clarke • Rational choice perspective assumes that offenders choose to commit crime because of the benefits it brings them

10. Evaluating Rational Choice Theory • Studies of active robbers, burglars, and other offenders • Offenders who plan vs. offenders who give very little thought to their crime • Focus on the criminal event • Situational factors and opportunities that affect decisions to commit crime • Situational crime prevention • Drugs and alcohol

11. Is Rational Choice Theory Sufficient? If you found the ipod who would you call and why?

12. Deterrence Theory • Neoclassical perspective • Assumes that potential and actual legal punishment can deter crime • Rational choice theory and deterrence theory often considered synonymous • Assumptions underlie the “get tough” approach, involving harsher punishments and more prisons

13. Deterrence Theory • Types of Deterrence • Marginal: The effect of increasing the severity, certainty, and/or swiftness of legal punishment • General: Members of public decide not to break the law because they fear punishment • Specific: Offenders already punished decide not to commit another crime

14. Deterrence Theory • Considerations that affect the size of any impact the criminal law may have on deterrence: • Type of criminal offense • Instrumental offenses • Expressive offenses • Whether offenders have high or low commitment to criminal behavior • Whether a crime tends to occur in public or private • Additional considerations

15. Research on Deterrence • Most research has focused on the certainty (likelihood of being arrested) of punishment and on the severity (whether someone is incarcerated and if so how long) of punishment • Early research results  marginal deterrent effect is small

16. Routine Activities Theory • Neoclassical perspective • Also known as routine activity theory • Focus on criminal victimization patterns • Rational choice assumptions of criminal decision-making • Assumes that crime is more likely when 3 factors are simultaneously present: • Motivated offenders • Attractive targets • An absence of guardianship

17. Routine Activities Theory • 1979: Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson • For crime to happen, offenders, targets, and the absence of guardians must all converge at the same time and in the same location • When people’s routine activities change, crime rates change as well • There will always be a supply of motivated offenders

18. Routine Activities Theory • Focus on changes in the supply of attractive targets and in the presence/absence of guardianship as key variables affecting changes in crime rates • Criminal opportunity structure • Opportunity theory of crime • Routine activities inside or near one’s home result in less victimization than activities that occur away from home

19. Routine Activities Theory • Crime results in part from the activities that so many people ordinarily enjoy • “Rather than assuming that predatory crime is simply an indicator of social breakdown, one might take it as a byproduct of freedom and prosperity as they manifest themselves in the routine activities of everyday life”

20. Evaluating Routine Activities Theory • Popular because: • It seems to explain important aspects of differences in crime rates among different categories of people and among different locations • It seems to explain important aspects of changes in crime rates over time

21. Evaluating Routine Activities Theory • Certain studies have deepened the understanding of the factors that contribute to target availability and the absence of guardianship • Some researchers have used it to explain offending • May ignore factors that motivate offenders to commit crime

22. Situational Crime Prevention • Efforts in specific locations that aim to “reduce exposure to motivated offenders, decrease target suitability, and increase capable guardianship” • Examples: • Installing/increased lighting and camera surveillance on city streets and in public parks • Providing/installing better security systems for motor vehicles, commercial buildings, and homes • Hot-spot policing

23. Is the death penalty an effective deterrent?

24. Death Penalty in America