Sociology 2266A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Adolphe Quetelet, Gabriel Tarde, Simple Explanation
15 Nov 2016
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The roots of classical criminology lie in the philosophy of the enlightenment. Social contract theory represented a new way of looking at the relationship between people and the state. To avoid living in poor conditions individuals would freely give up their freedom to the state- from this, the state would protect these individuals to live in security. Classical theorists had a simple explanation for crime: people broke the law because they thought that doing so would advance their own interests: deviance was the natural result of our rational self interest. They believe that individuals were rational beings who carefully calculated the consequences of their behavior. Punishments should fit the crime (beccaria: swift/certain. Reforms: a(cid:374) i(cid:374)di(cid:448)idual"s (cid:396)ights a(cid:374)d of e(cid:395)uality a(cid:271)o(cid:448)e the la(cid:449, separation of judicial and legislative functions, establishment of fixed penalties. Serious problem= (cid:272)lassi(cid:272)al theo(cid:396)y (cid:449)as be(cid:272)(cid:272)a(cid:396)ia"s i(cid:374)siste(cid:374)(cid:272)e that the deg(cid:396)ee of punishment must be proportional to the degree of harm that has been done to society.
