Classical School of Criminology (Essay Sample)

Classical School Of Criminology Name Institutional Affiliation Classical School Of Criminology Introduction Criminology has, over the years, continued to evolve as both scholars and practitioners seek to dig deeper into the legal construction of a crime. Different schools of thought have come up with their own definitions and interpretations of criminology in the course of time. The classical school of criminology can be traced back to the eighteenth-century criminal law by reformers who wanted to find solutions to the criminal nature of human beings (Hass, Moloney, & Chambliss 2016). Crime has progressively revolutionized with more complex activities being carried out on a global scale. Some of the criminal acts would have been a taboo in past societies but have now become the order of the day in the contemporary world. For example, innocent lives are lost on a daily basis in war-torn countries that have been in civil war for years. This is an indication that value for human life has diminished in the hearts of some of the human beings who orchestrate these heinous acts against humanity. The understanding of the thinking of these criminals can be found in the classical school of criminology that is attributed to the modern ways of dealing with crime. The reasoning behind the classical school of criminology Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria were the earliest scholars to develop the classical school of criminology in the eighteenth century (Burke 2017). Over time, the ideas of the scholars have been relied on in making critical decisions as relates to law. The criminal justice system in the modern world is the child of the thoughts of the early developers of the criminal thinking theory. During the time, there was a tendency by government and law enforcement to subject people convicted of crimes to harsh punishments for their deviant behavior. The punishment was so inhumane that they could not compare to America's boot camps and hard labor. This prompted the need for reforms in the approaches used in punishing offenders. The classical school of criminology emerged during this era of great suffering for offenders in response to the inhumane treatment they received. The believers of this school of thought sought to have civilized approaches to dealing with criminal behavior. By seeking redress to these issues, the theorists hoped for better treatment of individuals in custody. Different theories have been introduced to try and expound the real meaning behind the classical school of criminology. The theorists sought to understand the thinking behind the mind of a criminal and what drives them into being part of criminal activity. As such, they came up with rationales for changes in the approach to treating criminals and the determination of the type of punishment that best suits their crime. It was imperative to introduce these ideas as Europe by then was marred with cases of unjustifiable treatment of crime executioners, which amounted to inhuman treatment of the accused individuals (Burke 2017). Over the course of time, their ideas would be incorporated in bringing about the much-required change in the criminal justice system affecting the way things are handled to modern society. There were three notable arguments that came from the introduction of the classical school of criminology in handling then-current and future trends in the criminal justice system. On the one hand, the early reformists of the criminal justice system believed that actions of crime were as a result of rational choices made by the offender. The thought of gaining maximum pleasure and minimum pain in the process of committing a crime is, therefore, viewed as one of the main leading causes of criminal activities. They introduced the definition of criminal activities, which considered criminal activities as resulting in harm being done to some part of society or the society at large. As such, different criminal activities have different impacts on persons who have had experience with perpetrators of crime. Criminal activities, according to them, should, therefore, be punished depending on the extent of damage that the criminal act has had on the affected persons. This, therefore, led to the classification of crime and the determination of the severity that the punishment should have on the individual. It was argued that if the extent of the punishment does not exceed the benefits of criminal activity, then the offender would rather face the consequences and still gain from committing the crime. It would, therefore, be important to rationale decide on the type of punishment that would best suit the criminal. The classical theory, therefore, advocated for fairness in criminal justice in addition to insistence on the need for offenders to suffer the consequences of their crime, which should be rationalized. Principles of the classical school of criminology There are the basic principles that this theory of criminology is based on. These are explained by the main reasons why philosophers such as Beccaria thought it wise to have a change in the way that things were being handled in the process of dissemination of justice. * On the one hand, the theory argues that every individual act according to their desires and the personal will. As such, some of the criminal activities are not entirely planned; rather, they happen instantaneously. It is, therefore, important to consider the circumstances of the criminal activity before passing on a judgment. * The consequences of the crime are what drive the criminal behavior of an individual. They rationally assess the consequences of the crime, depending on the rules of society. Once the crime promises to be more beneficial than the impact it would have on their lives, it then becomes apparent that they chose to suffer the consequences so long as they stand to gain more. * This leads to the need to consider the severity of the punishment to be administered. The person passing the judgment should, therefore, consider the pain caused by the criminal on their victims and punish them accordingly. This would be used as a way of deterring individuals from taking part in criminal activities. * The other principle of the classical school of criminology is that punishment should be administered as fast as possible. This is as this makes the criminal realize the negative impact that their actions had on society and that they deserved suffering almost equal to if not severer than the result of their criminal activity. Proposed reforms by the classical school of criminology and how they apply in modern society The proposers of the theory had in mind the need to fair treatment of all persons, including criminals (Burke 2017). At the time, there was a negative approach to the administration of justice, with some crimes receiving punishments that did not commensurate with the impact their crime had on the affected persons. The review of the criminal justice system at the time triggered the need for interested parties to propose new approaches to the handling of criminals. Little did they know that their analysis of the current processes in criminology at the time would be relied on making laws that would govern the modern world. Equal treatment of persons before the law One of the major concerns by the fathers of the classical school of criminology was the unfair treatment of people based on their status. On the one hand, it would have been easier for a prominent person who committed a crime as serious as murder to get away with crime than it would be for a poor person to steal food for their family. This, according to Beccaria, was an indication of an unjust society where authoritarianism was the order of the day (Hagan & Daigle 2018). As a staunch supporter of utilitarianism, he believed in the ethics of determining right from wrong and administering fair judgment to persons engaging in crime. It would, therefore, only be just for an individual is punished based on the extent of their harm to society. The modern world has embraced this idea of treating people equally before the law. Today, the law is the standard unit for the administration of justice for all. It does not matter the position that one holds in society; rather, it is their criminal acts that determine the type of punishment they deserve. This applies to all criminal activities, including those that emerged in the post-enlightenment era. The bill of rights is, for example, a result of this ideology as it stipulates the rights of every individual, and acting against these rights amounts to inhumanity. Both persons in high society and those low in society are therefore subjected to the same scale in the administration of justice, and their actions determine the severity of the punishment they should receive. Eradication of unacceptable practices in criminal justice The then criminal justice was not designed to ensure that justice was served, rather it was a platform used to biasedly mistreat some people while at the same time ensuring that immunity for others. Some practices in the administration of justice, such as secret accusations where witnesses were not around at the time of trial, worked against the accused. The proposers of the classical school of criminology sought to have the witnesses publicly cross-examined to ensure that the judgment shall be made based on the live testimony of the witnesses. The accused would, therefore, not claim the lack of due process in their accusation. Another practice that the reformist was against in the administration of justice was the use of torture in handling criminal suspects. Beccaria, for example, questioned the authenticity of any information obtained by law enforcement through torture (Akers 2019). This is as the extent of the pain caused by torture leads to the accused seeking the easiest way out of the torture situation. They could, therefore, offer false information ju...