Widely accepted as the oldest known criminological theory and explanation of crime, classicism has always had its part to play in the teachings and learning’s of criminology. ...
Although classicism and positivism are inextricably linked, the fact that one theory is generally known to be the replacement for the other means that, unsurprisingly, there are fundamental differences between the two. ... This innovative way of thinking at the time is what we know as classicism and has been the platform of criminology as a recognised subject.
Classicism was a term coined by theorists from the Classical school, it is also collectively known as the ‘rational actor model’. These classical theories originate from Italian Cesar Beccaria (1738-1794), writer of the legally minded ‘Dei delitti e delle pene’ (On crimes and punishment) and British born Jeremy Bentham(1748 – 1832) . ... This is the real fundamental theory of classicism, the fact that any man that perpetrates this ungodly act is fully aware that he is doing so and cannot excuse his actions by any mitigating circumstances. ... The motivation for the act is the notion of the ‘reasoning criminal’, how much do they stand to gain from the act, compared to the likely hood of their detection and the severity of their punishment, from the point of view of classicists and those up holding the law, the punishment should not be discriminatory to whom as committed the act, rather what act has been committed, whether one is actually guilty (as one would be presumed innocent) and make the punishment appropriate to the crime, as for-mentioned, prison sentencing became much more common and capital punishment less so.
The overall aim of the punishment was to make obedience to the law the more preferable option, as well as discouraging repeat offences and deterring others, “punishment, from the classical perspective, should be swift, certain, proportionate to the crime and restricted to the individual offender” (Bowling & Phillips 2002 p. ... People suffering from insanity and delinquents were treated exactly the same as every body else. ...
Positivism is a term collectively used as a more scientific approach to criminology. ... Positivist thinkers believe that it is not simply down to a person’s free will to commit a crime, instead it is down to defining internal or external factors. ... External being as a result of their surroundings, either way, both factors mean that the individual may commit an act they have no control or ‘free will’ about, “The individual is in some way predestined to be a criminal” (Roger, Hopkins, Burke 2003 p.10) It is exactly these factors and the rejection of the ‘rational actor model’ that defines criminological positivism from classicism. ... These statistics made it obvious that it wasn’t just free will that determined crime, there must be some other contributing factors. ... The proletariat suffered from hard living conditions and child labour was not uncommon. ... One major defining factors between the predestined actor model and the rational actor model was that as criminals were committing crime as a result of evolving to their environment or upbringing, it may also be possible to create cures or treatments to prevent them doing it again, unlike classicism, early stages of treatment, cure and rehabilitation came into the equation.
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