Introduction To Criminology

1st Semester

ETYMOLOGY

• The Origin Of The Term CRIMINOLOGY Can Be Traced Back To French Anthropologist Paul Topinard Whose Publications Appeared In

1839; It Was Coined By Rafaelle Garofalo In His Speeches And Writings.

WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

• The Italian Law Professor Raffaele Garofalo Coined The Term Criminologia In 1885.

•The French Anthropologist Paul Topinard Used The Term Criminologie In 1887.

• The Scientific Study Of Crime As A Social Phenomenon.

•It Is Committed To The Achievement Of An Understanding Of The Roots And Manifestation Of Different Aspects Of Behavior That

Violate Criminal Law.

IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING CRIMINOLOGY

1.Source Of Philosophy Of Life- Knowledge Derived From Studying Crime Is A Good Foundation For An Individual’s Philosophy And

Lifestyle.

2.A Background For A Profession Or For Social Service;

3.because criminals are legitimate objects of interest. They should be understood in order to know how to control them;

4.because crime is a costly problem. The value of property lost, medical expenses, and insurance, moving costs, and intangible

cost of pain and suffering is too high as a resült of victimization.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY

A.criminal demography – relationship between criminality and population

B. Criminal epidemiology – relationship between environment and criminality

C. Criminal ecology – criminality in relation to spatial distribution in a community

D. Criminal physical anthropology – criminology in relation to physical constitution of men

E criminal psychology-human behavior in relation to criminality

F.criminal psychiatry-mental disorders in relation to criminality

G.victimology- role of the victim in the commission of a crime

H.criminal statistics – sub-area of criminology which involves research on specific criminal types and patterns
NATURE OF CRIMINOLOGY

A.an applied science-natural sciences are applied in studying crime; chemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, etc. are used in

crime detection.

B.a social science – crime is a societal creation and exists in society; there is no crime where there is no society

C. dynamic-criminology changes as social conditions/circumstances change; crime as an aspect of society changes, thereby

affecting social condition and also the study of criminology

D.nationalistic- study of crime must be in relation with existing criminal law within the territory

PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS OF CRIMINOLOGY

1. Criminal Etiology – scientific analysis of the nature and causes of crime

2. Sociology of Law – scientific analysis under which criminal laws develop as a process of formal social control

3. Penology-scientific study concerned with the control and treatment of crimes and the rehabilitation of offenders

OBJECT OF INTEREST IN CRIMINOLOGY

• The four most common object of interest in criminology are CRIMES (Criminal acts), Criminals (perpetrators of crime), Criminal

Behavior and the Victims of crimes (victimology).

CRIME

• legal viewpoint: an act or omission punishable by a criminal law

• Criminological viewpoint: any act injurious or harmful to the norms of society

• Offense- Is an act or omission that is punishable by special Naws. (Example: Republic Acts, Presidential Decrees, Executive orders,

etc.)

•Felony-is an act or omission that is punishable by the revised penal code. (Example: if there is an article)

•Misdemeanor-acts that are in violation of simple rules and regulations.(Example curfew and human trafficking)

•Delinquency-usually referring to acts committed by minor offenders.(delinquent or Juvenile)

CRIMINAL

Mens Rea- criminal intent on part of offender

Actus Reus-criminal act of the offender

CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIME

Acquisitive crime- offender acquires or comes in possession of something as a consequence of his criminal act.

Extinctive crime-end result of a criminal act is destruction.

Seasonal crime -committed during a certain season of the year.

Instant crimes -committed in the shortest possible time

Episodic crimes – committed by series of acts in a lengthy space of time

Static crimes – committed in one place, escape to other places.

Continuing crimes – committed in several places

Rational crimes – committed with intention and offender is in full possession of his mental faculties.

Irrational crimes-This refers to a crime committed by someone with mental illness, severe emotional disorder, or impaired

perception.

White-collar crimes – committed by a person of responsibility and upper socio-economic class in the course of occupational

activities

Blue-collar crimes – committed by ordinary criminals to maintain livelihood.

Crimes of the upper world-committed by the upper strata of society

Crimes of the underworld-committed by lower or underprivileged class of society

By imitation – a duplication of what was done by others

By passion – caused by fit of passion, anger, jealousy, hatred, etc.

Hate crimes- Crimes against individuals or groups based on racial, ethnic, religious, or gender characteristics are considered crimes

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES ACCORDING TO THE POLICE

Index Crimes- are serious in nature and which occur with sufficient frequency and regularity. They are further classified into

Crimes against Person- murder, rape, homicide, physical injury.

Crimes against Property- Robbery and theft.

Non-index crimes- are mostly violations of specials laws and other crimes such as crimes against moral (PV)and order, crimes

against chastity, ete (CASAAD)

Organized crimes- this refers to the illegal activities of individuals and organizations that prioritize profit over legitimate business

transactions.

LEGAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIME (FELONY)

As the manner of commission

•by means of dolo or deceit

•by means of culpa or fault

As to the stages in the commission of crime

•Attempted Crimew

•Frustrated Crimes

•Consummated crimes

As to the plurality of Crime

•Simple crimes

•Complex crimes

LEGAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS

Based on etiology

•Acute criminal- violated the law because of the impulse of the moment fit of passion sudden birth of anger or spell of jealousy

where he is not able to control himself.

•Chronic Criminal- acted in consonance with deliberated thinking.

Based On Behavioral System

• Ordinary criminal – lowest form of criminal career

• Organized criminal – there is a high degree of organization to enable specialized activities which can be operated in large scale

business without being detected

• Professional criminal – highly skilled individuals who do specific crimes as a matter of specialty.

BASED ON ACTIVITIES

•Professional Criminals- earn their living through criminal activities;they pursue criminal activities with vigor, attempting to learn

from older, experience criminals techniques that will earn the most money with least risks.

• Accidental criminals – commit crimes due to circumstances that they did not expect.

• Goal-oriented criminals – violate law because they believe their actions will ultimately benefit society.

Based on Mental Attitude

• Active aggressive criminals- commit crime in an impulsive manner due to aggressive behavior .

• Passive inadequate criminal – commit crimes by regard or promise without considering its consequences; they may feel guilty in

the end after they realize the consequences of their acts

• Maladjusted criminals – delinquents whose activities stem from personality disturbances instead of gang activity or slum

residence.

• Socialized delinquents – normal in behavior but defective in socialization process.

APPROACHES TO THE DEFINITION OF CRIME AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

1. Subjective Approach- it deals mainly on biological explanation of crimes focused on the forms of abnormalittes that exist

in the individual criminal before, during and after the commission of crime( Tradio, 1999).

• Anthropological Approach – compares physical characteristics of offender r to non-offender

• Medical Approach-explains the role of physical and mental conditions of individual prior or after the commission of the criminal

acts

• Biological Approach – advocates that heredity is one of the causes of crime

• Psychological Approach -explains the nature of a human being to acqu the physical needs in order to satisfy all his wants

• Physiological Approach – explains that deprivation of physical body on basic need is important determiner of commission of

crime; it is the study on nature of human being concerning his physical needs in order to satisfy his wants.

• Psychiatric Approach -the cause of behavioral difficulties is to be found in r emotional tension originating in early life conflicts

with the family

• Psychoanalytic Approach -Freudian theory traces behavior as a deviation through repressing basic drives that produces conflict

between the ego and the conscience

2. Objective Approaches- It deals with the study of groups, social proc and institutions as influences to behavior

• Geographic Approach – considers climate as one of the factors that leads an individual to do a criminal act

• Ecological Approach concerns itself with the biotic grouping of men resulting from migration, competition, and division of labor

• Economic Approach – financial hardship is one of the primary causes of criminality

• Sociological and Cultural Approach – concerned with the influences on behavior of group life, including rules and statutes,

social classes and social mobility, sub-culture and cliques and social changes

3. Contemporary Approaches- Modern days put emphasis or scientific modes of explaining crime and criminal behaviour.

This approach focuses on the psychoanalytical, psychiatric, sociological explanations of crime in an integrated theory.

THREE (3) TYPES OF EXPLANATIONS TO THE EXISTENCE OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR (SEMI)

1. Single /Unitary Theory- contends that crime is produced by one factor. Ilt may be biological, sociological or psychological.

2. Multiple Factor Theory- views that crime is not a product of single cause or factors but a combination of several factors.

3. Eclectic Theory- that the crime stemmed by one or more factors while in other instances it is caused by another set of factors.

4. Integrated Theory- A theory that combines two or more theories to generate a single model of framework.

ANCIENT EXPLANATIONS WHY PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES

• Demonological Theory – people who commit crimes are possessed or influenced by demons
• Divine Will Theory – God forced people to commit crimes so that they would be penalized for their sins

DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGY

A. Classical School – man as governed by his consideration of pleasure and pains; a person is assumed to have free will and

to make his choice whether to commit a crime or not (Beccaria)

Theories of the Classical

•man is a free moral agent with absolute free will to choose between good and evil

• basic criminal liability is human free will and purpose of penalty is retribution

• man is responsible for his acts

• punishment should be attached to a criminal act and there should be a scale of punishment to all person committing the

same crime, irrespective of age, sex, color, creed, or circumstances.

Free Will Theory (Classical School by Becarria)- people will commit crime if they enjoy more pleasure and feel less pain

Utilitarianism – criminal behavior occurs when actor/offender considers it useful, purposeful and reasonable

B. Neo-Classical School- counteracted the sweeping theory of Classical School about free will; lunatics and minors do not have the

capacity to grasp the impact and consequences of their behaviors and cannot be held accountable for their acts. (Postmodernist

Crminologists)

C. Positivist School – concerned with the scientific explanation to crime and criminal behavior (Lombroso, Ferri, Garofalo, Sheldon,

Kretchmer)

Theories of the Positivist School

•man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid phenomenon which conditions him to do wrong in spite of or contrary to his

own volition

• crime is essentially a social and moral phenomenon and it cannot be treated and checked by the imposition of punishment, but

through the enforcement of individual measure

• basis of criminal responsibility is person’s dreadfulness or dangerous state

Criminal Atavism (Lombroso).- criminals are born with some physical characteristics identified with criminal behaviors

Classification of Criminals according to Lombroso

1. The Born Criminal- those who have stigmata or atavistic features (ape like structure) had a potential to commit a crime

2. The Insane Criminal- mentally defect (Lunatic)

3. The Criminaloid- psychopath or sociopath. Most dangerous type of criminal.(Theodore Budndy)

• Cartographic School – crime is a necessary expression of social conditions; caused by conflict between laws and group values

(Quetelet and Guerry)

 • Socialist School – based on the writings of Marx and Angels, poverty results from private ownership of the means of production

and from exploitation of the working classes (Marx and Angels)

• Sociological School – emphasizes “imitation” in crime causation; one behaves according to the customs of the society;if a man

steals or kills another he is merely imitating someone else(Durkheim, Reckless, Tarde, Sutherland)

• Psychiatric School – a certain organization of personality, develops entirely apart from normal culture and will result in criminal

behavior regardless of social institutions

WHY MUST SOCIETY BE INTERESTED IN CRIME?

1.Crime is pervasive – no one is spared from crime regardless of their status in life; it affects almost all people of society.

2.Crime is expensive – the high cost of crime

3. Crime is destructive – destroys life, property, morality

4.Crime is reflective- reflects social state and conditions

5.Crime is progressive -it progresses as society progres

HEDONISM-people commit crime to attain pleasure and avoid pain.

Hedonist-people who committed crime

Classical punishment -Retribution

Neo-Classical punishment -

Positivist punishment -Rehabilitation