Classicism Versus Positivism

Two criminological approaches that go through the birth in contemporary criminology be classicism and favorableness. Classicism has the origin in the eighteenth century and positivism in the nineteenth. Both, the classical and the positivism possible action are expanded in the past with their own roots, only when in today vile skillfulice system are close up alive. Classicism was first developed by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, two famous writers which offer up in their works that both law and administration of justice should be based on rationality and sympathetic rights. Cesare Beccarias c at oncept of penalty is that penalty should fit the offense.Criminals are seen to owe a debt to society and punishment should be fixed strictly in semblance to the seriousness of the crime. (Beccaria, 1974 cited in Burke, 2001, p. 27) and Jeremy Bentham greatest principle was the greatest happiness for the greatest number, he matte that punishments should be calculated to in flict pain in direct proportion to the damage done to the public interest. (Criminology a social introduction, second edition, p. 56) favorableness or the science of crime was first developed by Cesare Lambroso in the late nineteenth century.He is the founder of modern criminology and he is known for his whimsey of the atavistic criminal (Taylor et all, 1973, p. 41) and he described criminals as atavistic, a regress to an earlier form of evolutionary life (Taylor et all, 1973, p. 41). Cesare Lambroso defined them into five briny categories born criminals, epileptics, insane criminals, occasional criminals and criminals of passion. (Lecture 3) Positivism within criminology has been enormously authoritative and comes for substantive and sustained criticism.Critics of individual positivism such as David Matza (1964) beseech that it draws on three problematic sets of assumptions (Tierney, 1996) determinism, differentiation and pathology. (Criminology, Tim Newburn, p. 128) Firstly both criminological approaches have different perspective on the human subject. The classicalist theory says that human are rational beings with a free will to act and once they make a decision they must accept the consequences after it. They are individuals and they make a ration pickax.On the other hand the positivist theory says humans have no moral responsibility, they are driven into crime by forces largely out of their control and they are using methods derived from the innate(p) sciences and their crime is caused by biological, psychological or social factors (determinism). Crime is non a free choice but is determined. Positivism is a deterministic theory. (Criminology a social introduction, second edition, p. 63). Secondly in the classical mould unlike positivism, it views committing crime as making a free choice (Criminology a social introduction, second edition, p. 8). In positivism theory we sight find a differentiation, the criminal is a specific typewrite of per son (Criminology a social introduction, second edition, p. 62) and criminals differ from non-criminals. Thirdly among classicism and positivism is also a pathology difference the criminals are non only different there is something wrong with them. Cesare Lombroso identified not just the born criminal, but also the emotional criminal, the morally insane criminal and masked epileptic criminal (Criminology a social introduction, second edition, p. 62).In culmination these two contrasting approaches are different and contain distinct periods in the past, classicism and positivism. I believe it is fair to say that their existence is not as heavily relied upon as it once was in the past. Bibliographic fictional character An introduction to criminological theory, Roger Hopkins Burke. (2001) Criminology a social introduction, Eamonn Carrabine, Pam Cox, Maggy Lee, Ken Plummer and Nigel South. (Second edition, 2009) The New Criminology, Taylor, I. , Walton, P. and Young, J. , Chapter 1. c apital of the United Kingdom Routledge and Kegan Paul. (1973) Criminology, Tim Newburn. (2007)