Criminology, as described by Edwin Sutherland, is the study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and of societies reaction to the breaking of laws (Newburn, 2017). In an attempt to understand the rising youth crime rates in regards to robberies in Melbourne one perspective that has been of great use is the classical theory. Cesare Beccaria is considered to be the founder of the criminological perspective, classical theory, he believed that crime is the result of individuals having free will, that human beings are rational and make decisions with an understanding of the possible consequences (Beccaria, 1764). The classical theory was further developed because of the work of the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham who believed that …show more content…
These circumstances range from age to mental illness, physical defects, being disorientated or on drugs that affect the brain functioning and therefore any behaviours, resulting in an individual becoming irrational (Newburn, 2017). This assumption that individuals act rationally when committing a crime falters as these incapacities, whether they be individual or structural, fundamentally alter someone’s rational calculation process. Neo-classicism starts to take these factors into account by treating actors as rational but makes allowances for age and mental state, knowing that rationally can be bounded by these factors (Tierney, 2009). This is apparent last July when a man, out the front of Highpoint shopping centre, was robbed by a group of youths who demanded and then stole his money (Byrne, 2015). A youth worker Les Twentyman, from the area, stipulates that youth unemployment and drug addiction were usually the reasons why youths were prepared to steal to make money quickly (Byrne, 2015). He continued on to relate this to a need to look into preventative matters, allow for the youths to feel like they have an alternative, such as programs to encourage them in schooling Instead of just charging the youths who are likely to not be making rational choices (Byrne, 2015). Overall, for the most part, the classical theory fails to take into account that some people may have limited abilities or limited opportunities to act as others might deem