3. Positivism and the Development of Biological Determinism PDF

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Explains in depth criminology...

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Introduction: Classical theorists wanted to replace the existing arbitrary and corrupt and inefficient system of justice with one that would be well ordered efficient and applicable to all. Through a universal system of policing that would then ensure that all offenders would be responsible for their actions. All would be equal before the law, not dependent on money and status and all would be equally responsible for their crimes it would no longer be sufficient to produce a string of character witnesses. Qually through the influence of the classical forms, instead of the death penalty defenders would go to prison, the length of the prison term was intended to match their offence. Instead of being hung for a minor theft, they now might just go to prison for a couple of months. Instead of one penalty to fit all crimes, now it was expected that the punishment for crime would be tailored to fit the extent of the harm done no matter who the offender was or what their background was. However what was also missing from any kind of consideration in classical criminology was an understanding of the person who committed the crime. Why did they do it? What kind of person are they? Today we are not just interested in obtaining people that have broken the law, we also want to know why they have broken the law? Social characteristics? We like to think that we arent just going to fit punishment to the crime but to the person who has committed it and by so doing prevent them from committing crime in the future. Accordingly when we read of court cases in the press today we are not just told that someone has committed a crime and has been punished accordingly because they are fully responsible instead we are also given a great deal of biographical information about the offender that the judge will then take into account when they are punishing, mental health, family, education, marital status which are seen as clues as to why some people have committed crime in the first place. This began in the mid 19th century and reflect the influence of positivism on criminological thought. Positivism: Positivism is a set of beliefs which hold that society can be improved through scientific collection, study and analysis of social phenomena relating to matters such as health, housing, education and for our purposes criminality. 189th and 20th century, positivist criminology evolved which was concerned with why particular individuals or groups became criminals and through the study of them find the causes of crime. The have been thought to include social, biological and psychological. The Shift: What was the meaning of the shift from classicism to positivism? A number of problems were emerging with the influence of the classical reforms, first the criminal statistics that were collected in the 1830s were a way of measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system showed that these classical reforms weren't working very well, crime was increasing, criminals weren't being deterred by more certain apprehension and punishment which was what was anticipated by classical criminologists, people were breaking the law over and over again. It was also apparent by mid 19th century, people were more motivated to commit crime, this brought upon the study of criminals themselves and why they were prepared to break the law compared to before, social scientists began to study criminals as if human beings could be studied and classified just like any other component of the environmental world like scientist. It

was no longer concerned solely in the justice system but also trying to reduce crime. Positivists in particular wanted to find why criminals were so different to non criminals. Instead is what as if criminal were deficient subjects who simply could not help themselves in terms of law breaking, unlike normal people who abide the law. Indeed it was thought that criminality was biologically determined. It was a form a inherited behaviour. Lombroso: Darwin theory of revolution began to influence criminological thought as well, this theory was based in the idea that an ending genetic perfection leads to the survival of the fittest, the most worthy, capable and those that adapt best to their environment and surroundings. To positive criminologists it seemed that criminals particularly prisoners were the ones that had least adapted to their environment and surroundings, it was as if those prisoners were in reality some sort of genetic throwback to an earlier stage of human development. In the survival of the fittest, prisoners and law breakers had been left behind. These ideas were most famously set out in the work of another italian scholar, (Lombroso), his ideas were set out in his book The Born Criminal. He discovered that it was genetic defects that made criminals such primitive creatures and law breakers. He talks of outlooking ears, large jaws and more wrinkles, Dark hair prevails in murders and a beard is scanty and missing all together. This was taken seriously in that time, may not be now but it was. These physical characteristics were led to or the product of criminal disposition. He made a similar study of women law breakers but in that book he believed that women offenders were much worse than the male counterparts because crime is committed predominantly by men those relatively few women that do break the law must be exceptional bad. “The criminal women is a monster, a normal sister is kept in the past of virtue by many causes such as maternity, piety, physical weakness but when these counter influences fail and a woman commits a crime we may conclude that her wickedness must have been enormous before it could triumph over so many..” His research was only based on physical qualities so he lacked the knowledge that in fact these do not determine a criminal. They began to realise that there were reasons for maybe particular traits that may seem consistent in criminals such as some maybe couldn't afford anti-wrinkle cream. His work was important because he began to shift attention away from the criminal acts to the study of criminal behaviour. Subsequent work in the positive school of criminology will look at biological studies of criminals. William Sheldon: believed that their were 3 different body types, Endomorphs (round and soft), Mesomorphs (Muscular and strong), Ectomorphs (thin and fragile). They produced different form of behaviour, the (FAT) shout and argued, relaxed and sociable. The (Gym) were energetic and assertive and the (skinny) we're smart and well informed. Body shape was seen to determine who would commit crimes. Body shape is also the product of culture not only genetics. Trying to Explain: Until very recently most biological thought of crime had been discredited, in recent years biological explanation have made a comeback, food production and its changing pattern has created a shift away from natural and organic food production to food processing with additional kind of chemicals and the growth of junk and fast food industries. There is compelling evidence

that diet and food allergies influence your behaviour and likelihood to commit crime as well, throught the chemicals that they contain. Drug addiction as well as alcohol problems can be inherited. The influence of classical forms are still seen in criminal procedure today as punishment i'd intended to fit the harm done but there is also an assumption that the criminal justice system should try to address the criminal's biological sense as well. Some are led to believe that biological determinism still does affect criminals....