SYG 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Cesare Lombroso, Physiognomy, Heredity
30 Nov 2017
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Criminal trial vs civil suit: criminal trial: punishable by law, civil suit: punishable by monetary fine. Homicide law in practice: trial and juries, pleas bargains, 2 kinds of trials, punishment may not always fit the crime. Schools of thought: supernatural, free will, biological, psychological, and sociological. Inevitable questions: does explanation translate to justification, at what point does cause of behavior become an excuse. Supernatural: prior to late 1800s, there were no theories based on scientific evidence. Supernatural or spiritual explanation for murder: demonic posession, witch hunts and executions, mid 18th century: classical school of thought was developed, presumption of free will. Classical school: crime is a choice made by the offender. Focuses on fitting and proportional punishment: 1970s: rational choice theory. Late 19th century: positivism (science was first put into theory: scientific observation and measurement to explain animal behavior, biology, psychology, and sociology, external factors caused criminal behavior, not specific to homicide.
