Compare Beccaria and Lombroso
Compare 2 Key Thinkers and Their Competing Ideologies.
Criminology is a study of crime, criminals and criminal justice. Ideas about criminal justice and crime arose in the 18th century during the enlightenment, but criminology as we know it today developed in the late 19th century. Criminology has been shaped by many different academic disciplines and has many different approaches. It explores the implications of criminal laws; how they emerge and work, then how they are violated and what happens to those violators. Laws are relative and historically shaped; they vary from time to time and from place to place (Carrabine et al, 2009).
This essay will be comparing the competing ideologies of two key thinkers in criminology; Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) and Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909).
Cesare Beccaria is considered to be the ‘father’ of criminology and is associated with the classical school of criminology, although he was not a criminologist but an Italian economist; criminology did not exist at this time. Beccaria came from an aristocratic family and was schooled at a Jesuit school in Parma, then went onto complete a degree in law (Hayward et al, 2010). He appealed to two key philosophical theories: utility and social contract and his hugely influential book ‘On Crimes and Punishments (1764)’ sought to apply enlightenment social contract theory to issues of crime and punishment with emphasis that individuals can only be legitimately bound to society if they comply with the societal arrangements (Hopkins Burke, 2009). He called for fair and just punishment to deter crime and suggested that people choose their behaviour, including criminal behaviour but the more swift, severe and certain the punishment then the better its ability to control that criminal behaviour. The swifter the punishment is to the crime then the stronger that punishment is related to the crime (Hale et al, 2009). The book greatly influenced the reform of criminal law in Western
Criminology is a study of crime, criminals and criminal justice. Ideas about criminal justice and crime arose in the 18th century during the enlightenment, but criminology as we know it today developed in the late 19th century. Criminology has been shaped by many different academic disciplines and has many different approaches. It explores the implications of criminal laws; how they emerge and work, then how they are violated and what happens to those violators. Laws are relative and historically shaped; they vary from time to time and from place to place (Carrabine et al, 2009).
This essay will be comparing the competing ideologies of two key thinkers in criminology; Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) and Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909).
Cesare Beccaria is considered to be the ‘father’ of criminology and is associated with the classical school of criminology, although he was not a criminologist but an Italian economist; criminology did not exist at this time. Beccaria came from an aristocratic family and was schooled at a Jesuit school in Parma, then went onto complete a degree in law (Hayward et al, 2010). He appealed to two key philosophical theories: utility and social contract and his hugely influential book ‘On Crimes and Punishments (1764)’ sought to apply enlightenment social contract theory to issues of crime and punishment with emphasis that individuals can only be legitimately bound to society if they comply with the societal arrangements (Hopkins Burke, 2009). He called for fair and just punishment to deter crime and suggested that people choose their behaviour, including criminal behaviour but the more swift, severe and certain the punishment then the better its ability to control that criminal behaviour. The swifter the punishment is to the crime then the stronger that punishment is related to the crime (Hale et al, 2009). The book greatly influenced the reform of criminal law in Western
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