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CMY3701 – EXPLANATIONS OF CRIMESTUDY UNIT 1.1 – THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL: THE OFFENDER AS CALCULATOR
Key Concepts and Terms
Aggravating circumstances
o Circumstances that cause the offender to be punished more severely than they
would normally be for a specific crime
Classical criminology
o Approach to studying crime that emphasises the importance of free will and views a
criminal act as one that had been consciously carried out by its perpetrator
o Advantages and disadvantages
o Main focus is on the operation of the criminal justice system
Criminal event decisions
o Shorter processes that use more limited information that relates mainly to the
immediate circumstances and situations
Criminal involvement
o Refers to the processes through individuals initially choose to become involved in
particular forms of crime, to continue on this path, and then, later to desist from crime
Limited or bounded rationality
o Indicate that even though individuals may make poor decisions, often based on
incomplete or simply inadequate information, they are nonetheless rational actors
Mitigating circumstances
o Circumstance that would result in a more lenient sentence that would normally be
imposed for a similar crime
Neoclassical school
o Body of theory that contends that scientific criminology (positivism), with its belief in
rehabilitation, is invalid
o According to this school of thought, society should return to the principles of classical
criminology and should deal with crime by concentrating on the administration of
justice and the punishment of offenders
Routine activities theory
o Suggests that for crime to occur 3 factors must be present
Motivated offender
Suitable victim
Absence of capable guardians
Rational choice theory
o Emphasises the importance of rationality in human action, even if this is limited
o Emphasises the decision-making processes involved in the choices made by
offenders
Social contract
o When an individual is bound to society only by their own consent, and society is
therefore responsible to him or her
Introduction:
Grew out of the Age of Enlightenment in the 17 th and 18th centuries
Beccaria – father of classical school of criminology
Better to prevent crimes than to punish them
3 principles of punishment
o Certainty
o Swiftness
o Severity
, Punishment should avoid unnecessary suffering, should be proportionate to the crime
committed, follow as certainly and quickly as possible, and be just sufficient to act as a
deterrent to the crime
Jeremy Bentham
o Pleasure-pain principle (hedonistic calculus)
Assumptions of the Classical School of Criminology:
Human nature: rationality
o People are self-interested, rational creatures who are able to make and act in
accordance with personal choices (free will)
Conception of society or social order
o Left to their own devices, people will follow their own selfish interests and since
these will often conflict, this will result in chaos
o The state uses laws to protect individuals, and this in effect a social contract, and it
forms the basis for social order
o A violation of law is a violation of this contract and justifies the state’s right to punish
the offender
Causes of crime
o Behaviour is guided by the hedonistic calculus by which potential offenders calculate
the risks and rewards involved in their actions
o The decision to commit crime was viewed as the consequence of a logical thought
process
Implications for policy
o Criminal justice should be subject to a strict rule of law (due process) and
punishments should be known, fixed and just severe enough to deter
o Judges’ discretions should minimised as far as possible in sentencing
o Classicists argued that the most appropriate solution to crime was a clearly defined
and consistently applied legal code and a criminal justice system that was
predictable, and swift, in its operations
Limitations of the Classical School of Criminology: Neoclassical School of Thought
Flaws in the idea of identical punishment for identical crimes
Its foundational concepts of free will and rationality, also showed flaws
Social theorists discovered that aggravating or mitigating circumstances sometimes meant
that similar crimes differed in significant ways
There were sometimes circumstances in which freedom of choice was limited
Under certain conditions, people didn’t always act rationally
o Rationality might be constrained by factors such as poverty, insanity, or immaturity
Ignored differences between individuals
All of the above quickly led classical criminologists to revise their ideas
o The changes in classical criminology resulting from these realisations developed into
what became known as neoclassical criminology
Neoclassical thinkers
o A person is still accountable for their actions, but with certain minor reservations
o Acknowledge that the offender’s past history and present situation both influence the
likelihood of reform
o Ordinary rational adults were still considered fully responsible for their actions, and
all equally capable of either criminal or law-abiding behaviour
o Recognised that children were less capable of exercising free choice and were
therefore less responsible for their actions
o Non legal “experts” (doctors, psychiatrists and social workers) were gradually
introduced into the criminal justice system in order to identify the impact of
individuals’ biological, psychological, and social differences
o Sentences became more individualised
, Central attributes of the classical and neoclassical schools, which laid down the foundations
of the rational actor model:
o A fundamental concentration on the criminal law and the legal definition of crime
o The central concept that the punishment should fit the crime rather than the offender
o The doctrine of free well, according to which all people are free to choose their
actions
o The use of non-scientific methodology coupled with a lack of empirical research
STUDY UNIT 1.2 – CONTEMPORARY RATIONAL CHOICE THEORIES
Introduction:
Cohen and Felson
o 1978
o Proposed the “routine activities” approach – led to policy recommendations to limit
criminal opportunities rather than increase the deterrent effect of criminal justice
policies
Clarke and Cornish
o 1985
o Proposed the “rational choice” approach
Both theories assert that offenders are active, thinking participants in their criminal ventures
Definitions of Key Concepts:
Routine activities theory
o Suggests that for crime to occur 3 factors must be present
A motivated offender
A suitable victim
Absence of capable guardians
Rational choice theory
o Emphasises the importance of rationality in human action even, if this is limited
o Emphasises the decision-making processes involved in the choices made by
offenders
Routine Activities Theory:
Cohen and Felson
Argue that certain changes in the modern world would have provided motivated offenders
with a far greater number of opportunities to commit crime
Contend that there has been a marked increase in the availability of crime targets (coupled
with the absence of capable guardians) in the modern world as a result of an overall
change in our “routine activities”
Example – empty houses during the day
As people spent more time at large in society they were likely to come into contact with
motivated offenders in circumstances where there was inadequate guardianship
Believe that most violent and property crimes involve direct contact between the offender
and the target
Elements that increase or decrease the likelihood that persons will be victims of personal or
property crimes are:
o The availability of suitable targets in the form of a person or property
Suitability of target is dependent on 4 criteria (VIVA)
Value
Inertia
Visibility
Accessibility
o The absence of capable guardians such as police
o The presence of motivated offenders, a person with the intent to commit a crime
, Evaluation of the Routine Activities Theory:
Primary goal of this theory is to identify the environmental triggers that facilitate crime
Emphasis in this theory is on a crime of place rather than a crime of person
Critics argue that the theory ignores the offender and cannot answer the question why
some individuals are more motivated to commit criminal acts than others
Has a tendency to blame the victim
Provides valuable insight into the issue of crime prevention and should be a meaningful
source of information for city planners, criminal justice officials and policy makers
Concise Summation of the Routine Activities Theory:
Focuses on opportunity and lifestyle issues
A person’s lifestyle definitely influences the opportunity for crime because it controls a
person’s:
o Proximity to criminals
o The time he/she is exposed to criminals
o Attractiveness as a target
o Ability to be protected
Felson and Cohen
o Key to stopping crime is to prevent the intersection in time and space of offenders
and targets that lack guardianship
Rational Choice Perspective:
Cornish and Clarke
Assume that people aren’t “empty vessels” when they approach a situation in which crime
might be committed
Propositions of the Rational Choice Perspective Theory:
Crimes are deliberate acts, committed with the intention of benefitting the offender
Offenders try to make the best decisions they can, given the risks and uncertainty involved
Offender decision-making varies considerably according to the nature of the crime
Decisions about becoming involved in particular kinds of crimes are quite different from
those relating to the commission of a specific criminal act
Involvement decisions comprise the following 3 stages
o Initiation
o Habituation
o Desistance
Event decisions involve a sequence of choices made at each stage of the criminal act
Bounded Rationality of the Rational Choice Perspective Theory:
Behaviour is rational, but bounded
It is limited in its understanding of possibilities, potentials and consequences
Offenders are generally doing the best they can within the limits of time, resources, and
information available to them
The Choice Process of the Rational Choice Perspective Theory:
Offenders seek to benefit themselves by their criminal behaviour and this process involves
the making of decisions and choices, however elementary these may be
This process exhibits a measure of rationality
Cornish and Clarke argue that the choice process occurs in 2 major stages
o Firstly, offenders must decide whether they are willing to become involved in crime to
satisfy their needs (initial involvement stage)
Whether or not they decide to become involved in crime is influenced mainly
by their previous learning experiences which are shaped by various
background factors
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