HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY.docx

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY INTRODUCTION The discipline of criminology has evolved in five phases. The first two phases were the early origins and the dark ages wherein criminological theories have evolved and became more multidisciplinary. This became the forerunner of independent crimi...

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY INTRODUCTION The discipline of criminology has evolved in five phases. The first two phases were the early origins and the dark ages wherein criminological theories have evolved and became more multidisciplinary. This became the forerunner of independent criminology that seeks to understand crime itself rather than study crime as one aspect of an overall sociological or psychological theory. The third phase begins in the 18th century. This, in turn, allowed for the dispassionate, scientific study of why crime occurs. The development of this study is now known as the era of classical and neo-classical criminology. The fourth phase, which began in the 19th century, is referred to as positivist criminology. During this era, criminology distinguished itself as a subspecialty within the emerging disciplines of psychology, sociology, and economics. The fifth phase, beginning in the second half of the 20th century, may best be called independent criminology. During this period, criminology began to assert its independence from the traditional disciplines that spawned it. EARLY ORIGINS It is universally known that crimes and criminal behavior were recognized in many early societies. In pre-literate societies, mores and folkways were the equivalents of law. Each group had its own set of customs, which were created to deal with situations that arose in daily living. These customs have often been followed long after the reason for their origin was forgotten. Many customs had the force of law and eventually developed into formal or written law. The concept of crime was recognized in the earliest surviving legal codes. One of the first was developed in about 2000 B.C, by King Dungi of Sumer. Its content is known today because it was later adopted by Hammurabi (1750-1799 B.C.), the sixth king of Babylon, in his famous set of written laws that is today known as the Code of Hammurabi. Preserved on basalt rock columns, the code set out crimes and their correction. Punishment was based on physical retaliations or lex talionis or an eye for an eye. The severity of punishment depended on class standing for assault, slaves would be put to death; freemen might lose a limb. The laws were strictly enforced by judges who were themselves controlled by advisers to the king. Crimes such as robbery and theft were common in ancient Babylon, and officials had to take their duties seriously. Local officials were expected to apprehend criminals. If they failed in their duties, they had to personally replace lost property: if murderers were not caught, the responsible official pays a fine to the deceased\'s relatives. Another ancient legal code that is still surviving is the Mosaic Code of the Israelites-1200 B.C. According to tradition, God entered into a covenant with the tribes of Israel in which they agreed to obey His laws, as presented to them by Moses, in return for their special care and protection. The Mosaic Code is not only the foundation of Judeo- Christian moral teachings, but it is also the basis for the U.S. legal system, i.e., prohibitions against murder, theft, perjury, and adultery preceded by several thousand years are the same laws in the U.S. legal system. Also surviving in Roman law are contained in the Twelve Tables-451 B.C. The Twelve Tables were formulated by a special commission of ten men in response to pressure from the lower classes the plebeians. The plebeians believed that an unwritten code gave arbitrary and unlimited power to the wealthy classes-the patricians who serve as magistrates. The original code was written on bronze plaques, which were lost, but records of sections, which were memorized by every Roman male, survived. The remaining laws deal with debt, family relations, property, and other daily matters. DARK AGES The early formal legal codes were lost during the Dark Ages, which lasted for hundreds of years after the fall of Rome. During that period, superstition and fear of magic and satanic black arts dominated thinking. Many people who violated social norms of religious practices were believed to be witches or possessed by demons. The prescribed method for dealing with the possessed was burning at the stake, a practice that survived into the seventeenth century. Some attempts were made to regulate the definition and punishments of crime during the early feudal period. Those that still exist feature monetary payments as punishments for crimes. Some early German and Anglo-Saxon societies developed legal systems featuring compensation for criminal violations. Despite such \"reforms\", and up until the eighteenth century, the existing systems of crime, punishment, law, and justice were chaotic. Justice was controlled by the lords of the great manors who tried cases according to local custom and rule. Although there was general agreement that acts such as theft, assault, treason, and blasphemy constituted crimes, the penalties on law violators were often arbitrary discretionary, and cruel. Punishment included public flogging, branding, beheading, and burning. Peasants who violated the rule of their masters were violently put down. Even simple wanderers and vagabonds had by the sixteenth century come to be viewed as dangerous and were subject to extreme penalties. During the later Middle Ages, outlaw bands ruled the countryside. The constant famines, taxes, wars, and plagues that had Europe in their grip throughout this period brought recruits to these bands. Landholders and members of the nobility actually negotiated with outlaws in order to encourage them to leave their lands. When soldiers caught up with outlaws, their punishment was immediate and brutal. Well-known clergymen, called for rulers to \"pursue, beat, strangle, hang and torture\" offenders, since rulers were representative of retribution. There were occasional efforts at reform. In France, the Criminal Ordinance of 1670 was the first attempt to codify legal sanctions. It limited the arbitrary power of judges, but in several instances, it did not specify a penalty, giving the magistrate discretion to increase or diminish punishments according to circumstances of the case. Despite such efforts, it was not until the eighteenth century that a coherent view of law, crime, and society developed. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY Despite the progress made in human culture and knowledge during the Renaissance-1300- 1500, European life was still extremely harsh for all but the few wealthy members of society, Class and family position at birth determined the entire course of a person\'s life. Those who inherited lands. And title flaunted their wealth through excessive behavior, such as gorging themselves on food and drink; gastrointestinal ailments were common complaints of the affluent. In contrast, the great majority of the population lived in terrible squalor. The early cities were filthy, decayed, and garbage-strewn. Lack of hygiene encouraged diseases ranging from typhus to cholera; less than half of all people born reached age 20, and only 30 percent made it to age 40. The urban poor drink foul water and rancid food; the rural peasant work as a slave for a subsistence living. The primary food was bread, often baked in huge loaves, kept as long as 18 months. Alcoholism was a significant problem, and gin, easily distilled and cheap to produce, became the drink of the masses. Between 1714 and 1733, English consumption of gin rose from two to five million gallons per year. The overpopulated and underfed cities became breeding grounds for crime. And since the penalty for theft was hanging, it made little difference if the thief also killed the victim. In England, law reform acts of 1722 and 1758 added more than 350 crimes for which the punishment was death. Part of the reason for this harsh reaction to crime was the nobility\'s growing fear of the \"dangerous classes.\" Disastrous and unnecessary wars and expansionist policies had exhausted the treasures of France and other European countries. The excesses of the rich were supported by increasing and unfair taxes on those least able to afford the burden. The poor often turned to theft for survival. Crime was viewed as a rebellious act against the political structure, Punishments were severe in order to convince the poor that disobedience to the established order was futile. Execution of criminals drew crowds in the tens of thousands. In later decades, unfair punishments, inherited power. And an economic system that condoned taxing the poor to pay for the life-styles of the powerful would help produce revolutions first in the American colonies, then in France, and much later in Russia. So by the mid-eighteenth century, a dramatic change was occurring in the social thinking that had dominated Europe and in colonies for many centuries. Religious orthodoxy was being challenged by science; rational thought began to be valued over senseless traditions, a movement referred today as the \"enlightenment.\" At the same time, the political system that had at its core the belief that those in power deserved their place in life was being questioned by writers and scholars who were horrified by the conditions that masses endured. Criminologists were primarily concerned with ending brutality and inequality against criminals by enforcing limitations on government power. They believed that criminal behavior was the product of the offender\'s rational choice. And that crime could be prevented through the speedy and certain application of penalties that attached painful and unattractive consequences to such behavior. Criminologists sought to develop theories to explain why crime occurred. They no longer relied as strongly on explanations of crime based on the offender\'s rational choice. Instead, they attributed criminal behavior to the motivation to commit crime and the social context that allows people to pursue criminal Inclinations. NINETEENTH CENTURY While the classical position held sway as a guide to understanding crime, law, and justice for almost 100 years, a new movement was underway that would challenge its dominance. The positivist tradition began to develop in the mid-nineteenth century as the scientific method began to take hold in Europe. This movement was inspired by new discoveries in biology, astronomy, and chemistry. If the scientific method could be applied to the study of nature, then why not use it to study human behavior? The positivist tradition has two main elements. The first is the belief that human behavior is a function of external forces that are beyond individual control. Some of these forces are social, such as the effect of wealth and class, while others are political and famine. Other forces are more personal and psychological, such as individual\'s brain structure and his or her biological makeup and or mental ability. Each of these forces operates to influence human behavior. The second aspect of positivism is the embrace of the scientific method to solve problems. Positivism relies on the strict use of empirical methods to test hypotheses. That is, they believe in the factual, first hand observation and measurement of conditions and events. A positivist would agree that an abstract concept such as \"Intelligence\" exists because it can be measured by an IQ test. They would challenge a concept such as \"the soul\" because it is a condition that cannot be verified by the scientific method. The positivist tradition whose work on the evolution of man encouraged nineteenth century \"cult of science,\" man- dated that all human activity could be verified by scientific principles. It is suggested that all living organism, including men and women, had come into existence not through divine creation but by a process of evolution and natural selection in which the strongest survived, referred to as \"survival of the fittest.\" Reliance on careful measurement to prove this theory set the stage for science to be a dominant force in explaining all human behavior. Positivism eventually dominated all scientific inquiry and was considered the modern way of doing things. Classical criminology, with its reliance on \"armchair\" theorizing was challenged by more \"scientific\" approaches to crime. Including biological, psychological, and sociological views. TWENTIETH CENTURY For most of the twentieth century, criminology\'s primary orientation has been sociological. However, it has also been deeply influenced by the contributions of persons in several diverse fields. Other contributions were made by historians and political economists in their study of the history of laws and the evolving definition of crime in contemporary society. Criminology, despite its historical antecedents, is a young inter-disciplinary science. In view of the globalization of the world-brought about by recent technological advances, computerization, and enormous increase in international commerce, both legal and illegal-criminology have become a necessity. Criminologists are called upon to assist governments in devising strategies to deal with a wide variety of international and transnational crimes. There are a number of requirements for successful criminological research; studying law, understanding criminal jus tice system, learning about culture, collecting reliable data, engaging in research, and when needed, doing cross-cultural empirical research and studies. The accomplishments of criminologists who have engaged in criminological studies form the foundation for further research. The tools of criminology should prove useful in helping both individual countries solve some of their common crime problems. The United Nations and its agencies continue to do very practical work to help nations deal with crime on a worldwide basis. DEVELOPMENT OF BIOLOGICAL CRIMINOLOGY In criminology, biological explanations of behavior have been out of style for some time. Glance through criminology tests of the past two decades will indicate less and less attention being given to the subject, with major emphasis on sociological theories of criminal behavior. Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in biological theories of criminal behavior. This has become important in an analysis of criminals. Psychological theories have received considerable attention in the context of the hotly debated insanity defense. But other recent controversial defense to criminal behavior have also involved biological explanations. Not only have the laws given more recognition to biological explanations of behavior but also have scientists. Taken together, research on the relationship between biology and crime leaves no doubt that social and biological variables and their interactions are important to the under- standing of the origin of anti-social behavior. Although the major theories of biological explanations of criminal behavior were developed in the nineteenth century, biological explanations can be found much earlier. One criminologist has traced back to Aristotle the belief that personality is determined by the shape of the skull. The relationship between criminal behavior and body type has been traced back to the 1500s; and the study of facial features and their relationships to crime, to the 1700s. In the latter part of the 1700s phrenology emerged as a discipline. Its development is associated mainly with the work of Franz Joseph Gall-1758-1828, who investigated the bumps and other irregularities of the skulls of the inmates of penal institutions and asylums for the insane. Gall also studied the head and head casts of persons who were not institutionalized and compared those findings to data of criminals. Phrenology is based on the proposition that the exterior of the skull corresponds to the interior of the brain\'s con formation. The brain can be divided into functions; those functions, or faculties, are related to the shape of the skull. By measuring the shape of skull, therefore, we can measure behavior. Some studies in phrenology were conducted in European and American prisons; for a few years it even had a professional journal: The American Journal of Phrenology. However, the issue or whether phrenology had an impact on the under- standing of criminology, or, for that matter, whether the theory was ever really tested, is debatable. Some modern scholars have, however taken the position that Gall did conduct scientific experiments to the degree that such was possible during his time; that phrenology has not been disproved scientifically; and that the conclusions of the early phrenologists, \"with some slight modifications, are not patently absurd with the light of contemporary scientific knowledge. DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CRIMINOLOGY Biologists and chemists were not the only professionals to link behavior to physical characteristics. Some early psychologists attempted to explain criminal behavior by means of the inherited traits we-now call intelligence. The influence of the positivists can also be seen in these early attempts to link criminal and other forms of anti-social behavior with mental retardation. Family studies were their sources of data. As the researchers traced criminality through generation of the same family, they concluded that mental retardation as the cause of crime. It was not important to them what happened in the mind of the criminal: \"It never occurred to positivists to ask how feeblemindedness could affect an individual, causing him to commit a crime of robbery or habitually engage in intoxicating liquor or drug addiction, or to be an extrovert, neurotic or psychotic.\" Psychiatry is a field of medicine on the understanding of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental problems. Psychoanalysis is a branch of psychiatry based on the theories of Sigmund Freud and employing a particular personality theory and a particular method of treatment, usually individual case study. Psychiatry holds that each person is a unique personality and that the only way that a person can be understood is through a thorough case study. The use of case studies in psychiatry characterized the work of William Healy, who is credited with shifting the positivists\' emphasis in studying anatomical characteristics to one of the psychological and social elements. Healy and his colleagues believed that the only way to find the roots or causes of delinquent behavior was to delve deeply into the individual\'s background, especially the emotional development. But they also measured personality disorders and environmental pathologies, theorizing that delinquency was a purposive behavior resulting when children were frustrated in their attempts to fulfil some of their basic needs. Healy and his associates found that so did non-delinquents. Despite their popularization of the case study method. Healy and his colleagues have been criticized for basing their studies on vaguely defined terms and giving little information on how they measured the concepts and characteristics. Furthermore, their samples were so small to permit generalization to the total population of delinquents. Their re- search also ignored the process of criminality. They say that mental and personality characteristics distinguished delinquents from non- delinquents but added nothing to the understanding of why. Why did some individuals with the personality traits in question become delinquents, whereas others did not. DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL CRIMINOLOGY At the same time that biological and psychological views were dominating criminology, another group of thinkers were developing the science of sociology in order to \"scientifically\" study the major changes that were then taking place in nineteenth century society. Sociology seemed an ideal perspective from which to study society. After thousands of years of stability, the world was undergoing a \"population explosion.\" The development of such machinery as power looms had doomed cottage industry and given rise to a factory system in which large numbers of people toiled to extremely low wages. The spread of agricultural machines increased the food supply while reducing the need for a large rural work force; the extent of labourers further swelled the cities\' population. Political, religious and social traditions continued to be challenged by the scientific method. The origin of sociological criminology can be traced to the writings of August Comte. In his application of positivism\' to the study of society, Comte argued that societies contained both forces for cooperation and stability, which he called social statistics; and forces for change and conflict. Which he called social life set the stage for more scientific analysis of society. Some early sociologists used Darwin\'s methods to describe the evolution of society. Herbert Spencer-1820-1903, used a Darwinian analysis to show that the most powerful nations were chosen by natural selection to lead the world. Natural selection could also be applied to people. The underprivileged in society must not be nurtured or helped to compensate for their shortcomings; while the fate of the poor is determined by their personal inadequacy. Wealth and power are reserved for the most qualified. Max Weber-1864-1920, described how cultural and religious forces controlled the social climate. In an important study. Weber traced the relationship between the Protestant Reformation and the growth of capitalism. Later in 1887. Ferdinand Toennies distinguished between Gemeinschaft-community and Gesellschaft-society. The former is the pre-industrial folk society based on traditions, folkways, and intimate human contact. The latter, the mod- ern industrial society, is characterized by impersonal relationships, competition, and the erosion of kinship. These studies paved the way for sociologists to study social change and the influences of social institutions have on people\'s behavior. It seems reasonable then that sociology would be an ideal perspective from which to study the nature and direction of another behavior that involves social forces. DEVELOPMENT OF MARXIST CRIMINOLOGY While Marx did not attempt to develop a theory of crime and justice, his writings were applied to legal studies by a few social thinkers including Ralf Dahrendorf, George Vold, and Willem Bonger. Though these writings laid the foundation for Marxist criminology, decades passed before Marxist theory had an important impact on criminology. Positivist criminology, with its emphasis on a stable society being besieged by law violators, no longer made much sense. The world seemed to be filled with conflict between the \"have\" and \"have not,\" those who controlled the political order and others-women, minorities, and college students-who were demanding freedom and an end to violence. The assassinations of Jonh F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King punctuated the turbulence of the time. They symbolized the feeling that people who fought for freedom and equality would be crushed by the system they opposed. Marxist inspired the revolution in Cuba and other Third World countries. To American and European scholars, these countries became ideal societies which respected human rights and abolished the oppressive class system. Young sociologists who became interested in applying Marxist principles to the study of crime began reading Bonger and Dahrendorf, and what emerged from this intellectual ferment was a Marxist-based radical criminology. CRIMINOLOGY AS AN INTER-DISCIPLINARY SCIENCE Criminology is interdisciplinary. Therefore, most criminologists have been trained in diverse fields, most commonly sociology but also political science, psychology, economics, and the natural sciences. The diverse, heterogeneous nature of criminology paused a question of whether it should be considered an independent academic discipline or a sub-field of a larger more well-established discipline, such as sociology or even psychology. A field of study is recognized as a discipline when it established that it has a body of knowledge that is distinct and autonomous. Some critics charge that criminology has not yet achieved the status of an independent academic discipline, that it remains an amalgam of information and ideas from various subject areas. However, two distinguished criminologists, Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracutti, counter that criminology is in fact a separate discipline that integrates knowledge from any field because \"it has accumulated its own set of organized data and theoretical conceptualizations that use the scientific method, approach to understanding, and attitude in research. Today criminology can be viewed as an integrated approach to the study of criminal behavior. Though it combines elements of many other fields, its practitioners devote their primary interest to understanding the true nature of law, crime and justice. CRIMINOLOGY TODAY The various schools of criminology developed over a period of 200 years. Though they have undergone great change and innovations, each continues to have an impact on the field. Part of their efforts involved analyzing how change in legal policy, such as the resumption of the death penalty, can influence the decision to commit crime. Biological and psychological views of crime have also undergone considerable evolution. While criminologists no longer believe that a single trait or inherited characteristics can explain crime, some are convinced that biological and psychological traits interact with environmental factors to influence all human behavior, including criminality. Biological and psychological views are also advanced by new information being gathered on the evolution of criminal careers. Data indicates that a relatively few people commit most crimes, and that fits in well with the view that a few people with physical and mental problems may account for most of society\'s anti-social behavior. Sociological theories have continued to dominate the field. Some are direct offshoots of these pioneering efforts and maintain that individuals\' life-styles and living conditions directly control their criminal behavior. Those at the bottom of the social structure cannot achieve success and experience anomie, strain, failure, and frustration. Those sociologists who have added psychological dimensions to their views of crime causation also continue to Flourish. This school of thought holds that individuals\' learning experiences and socialization in relationships with their parents, peers, school, and society directly control their behavior. In some cases, children learn to commit crime by interacting and modelling their behavior after others they admire, while other criminal offenders are people whose life experiences have shattered their social bonds to society. Finally, many criminologists still view social and political conflict as the root cause of crime. Criminology then has had a rich history that still exerts an important influence on the thinking of current practitioners.