Law and You > Criminal Laws > Criminology > Schools of Criminology
In its broadest sense criminology is the study (not yet the complete science) which includes all the subject matter necessary to the understanding and prevention of crime and to the development of law, together with the punishment or treatment of delinquents and criminals. In its narrower sense, it is simply the study which attempts to explain crime, to find out ―how they get that away. Thus, at its widest and most commonly accepted criminology means the study of crime, criminals and criminal justice. Similarly, it is the scientific study of crime, including its causes, responses by law enforcement, and methods of prevention. It is a sub-group of sociology, which is the scientific study of social behaviour. In this article we shall discuss various schools of Criminology.
The term “criminology” is defined as the scientific study of criminals, punishment, and crime. Criminology is characterized by a scientific approach to understanding criminals and crimes and how to prevent future crimes from being committed.
As civilization advances, the nature and variety of crime undergo change. We have numerous theories regarding crime, each reflecting a particular stage of development of civilization and a particular point of view. Criminology and penology are branches of social science. Various scholars have attempted to explain the causation of crime and criminal behaviour. Each school of criminology explains crime in its own manner and suggests punishment and measures suit its ideology. Each school represents the social attitude of people towards crime in a given time. As it is a science, no theory is free from drawbacks and criticisms.
Edwin Sutherland pointed out that a school of criminology connotes “the system of thought which consists of an integrated theory of causation of crime and of policies of control implied in the theory of causation”. Therefore, a school of criminology implies the following three important points:
- The adherents of each school try to explain the causation of crime and criminal behaviour in their own way relying on the theory propounded by the exponent of that particular school;
- Each school of criminology suggests punishment and preventive measures to suit its ideology; and
- each of the schools represents the social attitude of people towards crime and criminal in a given time.
The main schools of criminology are:
- Pre-Classical or Demonological School
- Free- will School or Classical School
- Ecological School
- Geographical School
- Typological School
- The Socialistic School
- The Sociological School
Pre-Classical or Demonological School:
Pre-Classical School of criminology is the most ancient theory of crime. According to this theory, a man by nature is simple and a crime committed by the man is a handiwork of the devil. They believed that there are two kinds of forces in the world: Gods and Satanic forces. God’s force keeps us away from crime and helps us to do good deeds, whereas the devil force distracts man from the right path and makes him commit a crime. It makes man reckless, loses the sense of morality and removes the fear of God from the individual. Such a person becomes unable to foresee the consequences of his actions. Thus, according to this theory, the offender commits a wrongful act not because of his own free will but due to the influence of some external superpower. The offender was regarded as an innately depraved person who could be cured only by torture and pain.
The medieval trial by ordeal was a harsh method that relied on divine intervention to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. The trial by ordeal is defined by its appeal to supernatural forces to determine guilt or innocence. The trials were overseen by members of the clergy who oversaw the test conditions and determined the guilt or innocence of the accused in a manner prescribed by the Catholic Church.
The chief objective behind the infliction of punishment under this school was to drive away the Demon from the soul. For this whipping was the most common form of penalty. Other punishments inflicted were tender organs of the body were exposed to cruel treatment, burning, laceration and maceration. Trial by ordeal included ordeal by hot water, ordeal by hot oil, ordeal by cold water, ordeal by a hot iron rod, ordeal by a snake and the ordeal by the sacrament. This approach was unscientific, irrational and cruel. Though the system of punishment appears to be most irrational and barbaric in today’s modern world it was accepted in that period.
Criticism to Pre-classical or Demonological School:
This School of criminology was criticized on the following grounds:
- Theory has false assumption of devil’s occupation over human soul;
- There is unwanted projection of fear, along with, excessive superstition;
- It is barbaric, inhuman, and meaningless penal actions.
As the times developed people started analyzing and questioning the demonological theory which led to the scientific development and therefore, led to the formation of the classical school of criminology.
The Pre-Classical School of Criminology is rooted in ancient Indian texts and scriptures that contain principles of justice and punishment. This school focuses on the concept of dharma, which refers to the moral and ethical duties of individuals towards society, and the idea of karma, which highlights the belief in the consequences of one’s actions. This is one of the schools of criminology that emphasizes the role of religion, customs, and traditions in shaping the social control mechanisms and maintaining law and order in society. Manusmriti, an ancient Indian text, is considered one of the important sources of principles of justice and punishment in the Pre-Classical School of criminology. The Pre-Classical School of Criminology has contributed to the understanding of crime and punishment in ancient Indian society. It highlights the significance of social norms, customs, and ethical responsibilities in maintaining law and order.
Free Will or Classical School:
The problem of free will has been identified in ancient Greek philosophical literature. The notion of free will has been attributed to both Aristotle (fourth century BCE) and Epictetus (1st century CE), According to them “it was the fact that nothing hindered us from doing or choosing something that made us have control over them”.
The classical school of criminology came from the Enlightenment period, specifically from the 18th century. Not only does it affirm that people make rational choices when committing a crime, but it also focuses on the prevention of future crimes and how that should be approached. The main belief of this school is that all men are self-seeking and therefore they attempt to commit the offence on account of the free will and not on account of being possessed by an evil spirit. According to the theory of this school, men possess free will and therefore, act as per their pleasure and in order to cause pain (hedonism) to the victim.
Beccaria was an Italian philosopher, reformist, and politician who advocated for swift and consistent punishment for breaking the law. In 1764, He published ‘Dei Deliti e Delle Pene’ (“On Crimes and Punishments”) arguing for the need to reform the criminal justice system by referring not to the harm caused to the victim, but to the harm caused to society. He believed people were rational-minded and had free will. He also believed in fair and just punishments and basic human rights for all. Beccaria believed in three ideology that:
- Every individual has free will in doing an act and should not be restricted;
- Every individual acts rationally for his wants and goods, thus law should be protective of an individual.
- Every individual’s behaviour is predictable and so, it can be predicted and controlled.
This school was based upon the theory of Retributive punishment. Beccaria proposed that, the punishment of a crime that is decided should be proportionate and in accordance with its seriousness. This thought was based on the simple reason that torture was inappropriate and thus allowed the weak to incriminate and the strong would be found innocent before the adjudication because of social position. Since the school believed that body and soul were distinct elements and that soul survived death, a dead person was also prosecuted and order of penalty executed on his mortal remains. It offered a comprehensive and adequate explanation of the phenomenon of crime. According to scientists this theory was neither rational nor valid. The physical and social environment determined whether the individual will choose criminal behaviour or non-criminal behaviour.
Criticism to Classical Theory:
The contribution of classical school to the development of rationalized criminological thinking was by no means less important, but it had its own shortcomings.
- The classical school proceeded on an abstract presumption of free will and relied solely on the act (i.e., the crime) without devoting any attention to the state of mind of the criminal.
- It erred in prescribing equal punishment for same offence thus making no distinction between first offenders and habitual criminals and varying degrees of gravity of the offence.
Ecological School:
Ecology is a science which studies the effects of environmental change on the growth and development of plants. It emphasizes the effect of social environment upon the behaviour of the individual. Ecological theories of deviance developed primarily out of the work of the “Chicago School” of Human Ecology – a group of criminologists / human ecologists working together at the University of Chicago in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
The ecological theory of crime, also known as social disorganization of crime is a theory used to describe the difference in crime in association with physical environmental factors such as cultural and structural factors. This theory can also be defined as a positivist theory because it seeks to find out about human behaviour. For the ecological theory the causes of crime for example are found in the way of the physical environment, where people live and socially interact. This is what creates the conditions for criminal and non-criminal behaviour. Thus, the main effort of this school is to establish a definite correlation between crime and socio-economic conditions of the criminal. It also studies in detail the relationship of various factors like density of population, the climate changes, town-planning, and spread of education with criminal behaviour.
During the 1920s, the sociologists Shaw and McKay, who examined the organization of American cities such as Chicago, observed that most are arranged into distinct neighbourhoods or zones, each with its own distinctive subcultural values and lifestyles. They concluded that the constant movement of people in and out of these areas prevented the formation of stable communities and a sense of social control. Instead, it produced a state of social disorganisation, with little sense of community.
According to Sutherland a cultural behaviour is shaped by those around them. If people who live in a socially disorganised urban area frequently associate with people who make their living from crime, then the choice to pursue a criminal career may not be a difficult option.
Views and conclusions of this school are supported by statistical analysis, graphs, charts, and maps. The explanation of crime offered by ecological theory is not complete. It may be true of a particular society at a given time, but we cannot extend and apply these conclusions to other societies. This is because the environmental conditions are not uniform in each society, and they are subject to change. Hence this theory was also not popular.
Geographical or Cartographical School:
This school of criminology primarily considered crime as the expression of effect of geography including the environment. It attempts to show the influence upon behaviour of such factors as climate, topography, natural resources and geographical locations. According to this school, crime is closely connected with geography, climate, environment which includes humidity, temperature, etc.
The main exponents of this school were Quetlet and Guery. According to this school, particular crimes are committed in the particular area only. It has been observed by them that, commission of crime against human body is rampant in warm season, and commission of crime against property is more prevalent in cold season. The number of crimes that they noticed, are comparatively more in barren land than in the fertile one.
As propounded by Quetlet and Guerry the law is known as Thermic law, according to which certain crimes are so linked with geographical conditions that these occur in a particular climate at a particular area. According to Montesque, the rate of crime is high in areas near the equator. Lombroso’s investigation on this phenomenon of crime discovered that the incidence of crime is less in plains, as compared with rocky lands, plateaus and valleys.
Criticism to Geographical or Cartographical School:
- It does not take into account other factors responsible for commission of crime.
- It does not take into consideration the fact that, even in an ideal environment the crimes are equally committed.
- It does not take into consideration that, mental and physical set up of the individual is also instrumental in making a person criminal.
Typological School:
By the 19th century, certain French doctors were successful in establishing that it was neither ‘free will’ of offender nor his innate depravity which actuated him to commit crime but the real cause of criminality lay in anthropological features of the criminals. Some phrenologists also tried to demonstrate the organic functioning of brain and enthusiastically established a co-relationship between criminality and the structure and functioning of brain. This school is named as Positive School, Italian School, Scientific School and Biological theory of crime causation.
The earliest biological theories in criminology emphasized physical appearance as the distinguishing mark of the criminal. Criminals were thought be somehow different, abnormal defective and therefore inferior biologically. Modern biological theories in criminology do not argue for biological determinism, rather, this theory argues that certain biological characteristics increase the probability that individuals will engage in certain types of behaviours such as violent or anti-social behaviours, that are legally defined as criminal.
According to this school, the criminals are classified on the basis of anthropological and psychological data. Lombroso discovered a definite relationship between physical structures of individuals and the mental makeup of the person. According to Dr. Goring the comparative study of physical and mental features of thousands of criminals and non-criminals showed no significant difference between the features of criminals and non-criminals. This disproves the assumption that a criminal has certain definite features. They believe that criminal tendencies are not hereditary but are acquired. Hence it has no application in modern approach to crime.
Socialistic School:
This school is the extension of the general theory of economic factors contributing to the criminal behaviour. The main exponents of this School of Criminology are, Karl Marx, Engel and Bonger. According to this School, all human actions and activities are influenced and determined by the economic reason or cause. Fluctuation in the commission of crime is closely linked with the fluctuations in the economic conditions. Therefore, according to this School, true causes of crime are the economic inequalities. Due to these economic inequalities, the society is divided into different classes and there is constant tension between these classes. Bonger also believed that economic conditions are the root cause of the criminal activities. The philosophy of capitalism is an attempt to legitimize the self-seeking acquisitiveness and aggressive pursuit of money and power. These tendencies lead to criminal activity.
It can be described as economic theory because it examines how economic disparities, poverty, unemployment, and lack of opportunities can influence individuals’ behaviour and their likelihood of engaging in criminal activities. It argues that crime is a result of economic factors, such as economic inequality, deprivation, and lack of access to resources.
Though the socialist theory of crime has the definite merit of pinpointing an important factor in the production of crime, it is false to assign exclusive responsibility for the crime either to economics or geography or pleasure or culture. Actually, all factors have their relevance to an adequate and comprehensive theory of crime.
Criticism to Socialistic School:
- The basis of Socialist school of Criminology is the Marxism theory, though it is good and acceptable, unfortunately, it has now been falsified.
- It is doubtful that the crime would be totally absent in the classless society.
- It does not consider all causes of crime, except the economic cause.
Sociological School:
This school offers a sociological explanation of crime. An attempt is made to establish various social factors correlative of various types of crimes. The sociological school of criminology focuses on the social and structural factors that contribute to crime and criminal behaviour. It examines how social institutions, such as family, education, and the economy, influence individuals’ behaviour and their likelihood of engaging in criminal activities.
The sociological approach is concerned with effects of group patterns of behaviour, as well as the social status, the role the individual plays in the society, and the individual’s conceptions of it, and of various other types of social situations and relationships. The sociological school focuses on how factors such as neighbourhood characteristics, community cohesion, and social control can influence crime rates. The sociological school emphasizes the importance of social bonds, such as family, school, and community, in preventing crime. It argues that individuals with strong social bonds are less likely to engage in criminal activities.
Sutherland held the view that crime is basically a learned activity. It is only by association with criminals that one learns the nature of crimes and its modus operandi. No one invents crime it has to be learnt and its techniques mastered. This learning and training one receive by associating with the group of criminals. According to D. R. Taft social disorganization is at the root of all crimes. By disorganization it is meant that there is a breakdown of the traditional social structure, rejection of old values and loosening of social control upon human behaviour.
Positivist School:
The positivist school of criminology emerged as a response to the limitations of the classical school’s rational choice theory. Positive School of Criminology is also known as Italian School of Criminology, because, in the 19th Century, there were three contemporary (i.e. in the same period or Century) main Italian exponents of this School. They were Dr. Lombroso (1835-1909), Enrico Ferri (1856-1928) and Raffaele Garofalo (1852-1934).The positivist school argues that individuals are not always rational and that various factors, such as biological, psychological, and social factors, can influence their behaviour, including criminal behaviour.
The Positivist school presumes that criminal behaviour is caused by internal and external factors outside of the individual’s control, and it can be better understood and managed through scientific methods. The positivist school advocates for the use of scientific methods, such as empirical research and data analysis, to study crime and criminal behaviour. It emphasizes the importance of evidence-based approaches in understanding and managing crime. Positivism can be broken up into three segments which include biological, psychological and social positivism. The positivist school believes that individuals who engage in criminal behaviour can be rehabilitated through treatment and intervention programs. It focuses on addressing the underlying causes of criminal behaviour rather than punishing offenders.
Criticism of Positive School:
- Crime is an essential product of social organisation but initially positive school was ignoring the sociological aspect of criminal behaviour.
- Work of positivists was not very statistically sophisticated. Conclusions about real or significant differences between criminals and non-criminals were in fact highly speculative.
Difference Between the Positive School and the Classical School of Criminology:
| Positive School of Criminology | Classical School of Criminology |
| Positive School was established in the 19th Century, and emphasized on scientific methods of study, and shifted emphasis from retribution to corrective method of treatment. | Classical School was established in the 18th Century, and attempted to reform the criminal justice system in order to protect criminal against arbitrary discretion of Judges. |
| Positive School rejected legal definition of crime, and preferred sociological definition of crime. | Classical School defined crime in legal terms. |
| The main exponents of Positive School were Lambroso, Ferri and Garofalo. | The main exponents of classical school were Beccaria and Bentham. |
| Positive School explained crime in terms of biological determination. | Classical School places reliance on ‘free will’ theory as an explanation of crime. |
| Positive School advocates treatment methods for criminals, instead of punishment. | Classical School believed in deterrent and definite punishment for each offence and equal punishment for all criminals committing the same crime. |
| Positive School laid greater emphasis on personality of the criminal. | Classical School focused greater attention on crime, namely, the act, rather than the criminal. |
Psychological School:
The psychological school of criminology focuses on the psychological factors that contribute to crime and criminal behaviour. It examines how individual traits, personality disorders, and mental health issues can influence individuals’ behaviour and their likelihood of engaging in criminal activities. The psychological school argues that crime is a result of psychological factors, such as personality disorders, cognitive processes, and emotional disturbances.
The psychological school emphasizes the role of individual traits, such as impulsivity, sensation-seeking, and empathy, in shaping individuals’ behaviour and their propensity to commit crimes. It highlights how personality characteristics can influence criminal behaviour. It examines how cognitive processes, such as decision-making, moral reasoning, and problem-solving, can influence individuals’ behaviour and their likelihood of engaging in criminal activities. It focuses on how cognitive factors can affect the way individuals perceive and respond to the social environment. It recognizes the role of mental health issues, such as personality disorders, substance abuse, and psychopathy, in contributing to criminal behaviour. It highlights how mental health issues can affect individuals’ behaviour and decision-making processes.
Clinical School:
More recently, with the development of human psychology, there is greater emphasis on the study of emotional aspect of human nature. This branch of knowledge has enabled modern criminologists to understand the criminal behavior of offenders in its proper perspective. According to the Clinical School of criminology, the personality of the man is the combination of internal and external factors; And the punishment should be depended upon the personality of the offender. Clinical school takes into account variety of factors.
Prof. Gillin, remarked that the theory of modern clinical school on the side of criminologists presupposes offender as a product of his biological inheritance conditioned in his development by experiences of life to which he has been exposed from infancy up to the time of the commission of crime. This School of criminology believes that the offenders are of two types, viz. –
- Those who respond favourably to correctional methods, such as, probation, parole, reformation, open air camps, advice, etc., and
- Those who do not respond favourably to the correction methods. Such criminals are incorrigible (cannot be improved), and should be inflicted with punishment of imprisonment for life.
Thus, briefly speaking, individualization has become the cardinal principle of penal policy in modern penology. The main theme of clinical school is that personality of man is a combination of internal and external factors; therefore, punishment should depend on personality of the accused. This is known as correctional trend of reformation through individualization.
Conclusion:
Each school of criminology explains crime in its own manner and suggests punishment and measures suit its ideology. Each school represents the social attitude of people towards crime in a given time. As it is a science, no theory is free from drawbacks and criticisms. Schools of criminology are the principles or code of conduct for Jurisprudence which deals with a socio-legal study which seeks to discover the causes of criminality and recommends remedies to reduce crime. These schools of criminology are the base for effective guidelines for the formation of criminal regulations and penal policy.