Beccaria Theory Of Crime

Every day we hear about crime and criminals in newspapers, on television, news reports and in general conversations throughout our socials circles. It is a constant concern and fear in society today and down through the generations. Crime is defined in some dictionaries as ‘’an act or omission that violates the law of the land and punishable by the guardians of the law.’’ Finding solutions for crime is an ongoing process. There are many theories on crime, causation and solutions. Politicians, interest groups, journalists and individual researchers have tried to find the cause of crime and the solution to this problem. Several explanations for crime such as social deprivation, genes, greed, bad family experiences have been accompanied by suggested

In 1764 Beccaria along with two of his dear friends Pietro and Alessandro Verri formed a society called "the academy of fists’’ with the principles of the Enlightenment, the society was dedicated to "waging relentless war against economic disorder, bureaucratic tyranny, religious narrow-mindedness, and intellectual pedantry." Its main goal was to promote economic, political and administrative reform. This society ‘’the academy of fists’’ also influenced Beccaria to write one of his most famous essay called ‘’On Crime and Punishment’’ as Beccaria was fascinated with criminal law, he published this document in 1764. Beccaria believed that having free will enabled people to make their own choices, however, some individual choices conflicts with society and there laws, therefore causing people to commit crimes. ‘’The principle of manipulability refers to the predictable ways in which people act out of rational self-interest and might therefore be dissuaded from committing crimes if the punishment outweighs the benefits of the crime, rendering the crime an illogical choice.’’(http://www.biography.com/people/cesare-beccaria-39630) Beccaria believed that the criminal justice system needed to be changed, he thought the present criminal justice system was ‘barbaric and antiquated’. Beccaria also believed that certain laws should be changed and who they should benefit. He believed the system should establish the appropriate punishment for each crime committed. Unlike many of the other theories ‘’On Crime and Punishment’’ wanted to help and protect the rights of the criminals as well as the rights of the victims, he believes that punishment of the criminals should be that which serves the greatest public good. Beccaria also put forward in his theories the first modern argument against the death penalty. Before Beccaria’s theories and ideas on the death penalty