Compare and Contrast classicist and positivist offender behaviour
Criminology is defined by Sutherland and Cressey (1992) as “the body of knowledge regarding crime and delinquency as social phenomena. It includes within its scope, the processes of making laws, breaking laws and reacting to the breaking of laws.” A simple way to interpret this would be ‘the scientific study of crime and criminals’. Punishment for crime is believed to have been around ever since the eleventh century when people would be burnt at the stake. According to Wilhelm (1910) in the Catholic encyclopedia “the burning of heretics was first decreed in the eleventh century”. Heresy is an unacceptable religious belief. This is an extreme example of historical variation
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Newburn (2009) himself describes classicism as “the assumption that the criminal is someone exercising free will and rationality.” This is linked to the rational choice theory in which the individual will weigh out the positives and negatives of the offending behaviour and choose the decision that provides them with the greatest benefit. Another word for this is utilitarianism. Secondly, hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure. This is the extreme desire for one achieve the greatest amount of pleasure available. Thirdly, punishment, the way in which crime is prevented by punishments being in place to deter criminals from offender behaviour. A way in which we deter crime in today's society is by using situational crime prevention. This means changing environmental factors so the situation of crime does not occur, such as, using CCTV cameras, better lighting in dark alleys and car parks and employing figures of authority to monitor areas vulnerable to criminal activity. Fourthly, human rights. Before classicism, punishments were more extreme, for example being burnt alive because of your religious beliefs etc.. and although punishments during the enlightenment period are still somewhat considered drastic compared to today, they were reduced in severity massively due to Cesare Beccaria. And finally, due process. This was a way for possible offenders to still be given their legal rights, this meant they were innocent until proven