Schools of Criminology
Introduction
Ever since the dawn of human civilization, crime has been a baffling problem. There is hardly any society which is not beset with the problem of crime. Dr. Heinrich Oppenheimer in his book ‘Rationale of Punishment’ says that a crimeless society is a myth. Commenting on this aspect, Emile Durkheim says, “a society composed of persons with angelic qualities would not be free from violations of the norms of that society”. In fact, crime is a dynamic concept changing with social transformation and evolution of the human society .
Primitive societies did not recognize the distinction between the law of torts and crime but only knew the law of wrongs. The early English societies during 12th and the 13th century included only those acts as crimes which were against the State or religion. As a result, treason, blasphemy and rape were crimes whereas murder was not. Along came the concept of personal revenge, which demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth . By the late 17th century, there wasn’t even a proper definition for crime. But the 18th century witnessed an era of miraculous reorientation of criminological thinking in European counties especially in France and Italy. The ideas of divine displeasure, demonic forces and other myths were replaced by logical and rational explanations. The twentieth century then saw a considerable increase in crime and with it, the study of criminology.
The study of criminology is an accumulation of centuries of beliefs, ideas, norms and laws of various societies. Because crime is a part of every human society, the study of criminology is also imperative to all societies. In this project report, I will discuss the various schools of thoughts of criminology starting from the early seventeenth century to the modern day schools of criminological thought.
Schools of criminology
It has been generally accepted that a systematic study of criminology was first taken up by the Italian scholar, Cesare Bonesana Marchese
Ever since the dawn of human civilization, crime has been a baffling problem. There is hardly any society which is not beset with the problem of crime. Dr. Heinrich Oppenheimer in his book ‘Rationale of Punishment’ says that a crimeless society is a myth. Commenting on this aspect, Emile Durkheim says, “a society composed of persons with angelic qualities would not be free from violations of the norms of that society”. In fact, crime is a dynamic concept changing with social transformation and evolution of the human society .
Primitive societies did not recognize the distinction between the law of torts and crime but only knew the law of wrongs. The early English societies during 12th and the 13th century included only those acts as crimes which were against the State or religion. As a result, treason, blasphemy and rape were crimes whereas murder was not. Along came the concept of personal revenge, which demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth . By the late 17th century, there wasn’t even a proper definition for crime. But the 18th century witnessed an era of miraculous reorientation of criminological thinking in European counties especially in France and Italy. The ideas of divine displeasure, demonic forces and other myths were replaced by logical and rational explanations. The twentieth century then saw a considerable increase in crime and with it, the study of criminology.
The study of criminology is an accumulation of centuries of beliefs, ideas, norms and laws of various societies. Because crime is a part of every human society, the study of criminology is also imperative to all societies. In this project report, I will discuss the various schools of thoughts of criminology starting from the early seventeenth century to the modern day schools of criminological thought.
Schools of criminology
It has been generally accepted that a systematic study of criminology was first taken up by the Italian scholar, Cesare Bonesana Marchese
Bibliography: 1. Anthony Walsh and Craig Hemmens, ‘Introduction to Criminology: A text/Reader’, Sage Publications, 2006. 2. Anthony Walsh and Lee Ellis, ‘Criminology: An interdisciplinary Approach’, Sage Publications, 2007. 3. Jones, Stephen, ‘Criminology’, Oxford Publications, 3rd Ed, 2003. 4. N.V, Paranjape, ‘Criminology & Penology with Victimology’, Central Law Publications, 15th Ed, 2011. 5. Stephen G. Tibbetts and Craig Hemmens, ‘Criminological Text’, Sage Publications Inc., 2010.