Crime and Justice Atlas

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Criminology Theories and Schools

Classical School

Also Known As Classical Criminology
Classical, Rational Choice and Opportunity Theories

The founding school of criminology, holding that people act on free, rational choice, so punishment should be certain, prompt and proportionate to the offense, functioning as a deterrent rather than as retribution. Founded by Cesare Beccaria and developed alongside Jeremy Benthams utilitarian penal design. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Core ClaimSourced to the subject's own account
Punishment should be proportionate to the crime and applied consistently, deterring crime through rational calculation rather than through severity or cruelty. 1
Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account
1764 1
Standing Critique
The positivist school criticized the classical assumption that all offenders act as equally free and rational calculators, arguing that biological, psychological and social differences between individuals shape criminal behavior. 2
Connections

Developed By

Source Wikipedia: Cesare Beccaria
Source Wikipedia: Jeremy Bentham

Held Differently

Durkheim's anomie concept responds to the Classical School's assumption of rational, uniformly deterred actors by locating crime causation in social structure rather than individual calculation.

Source Wikipedia: Emile Durkheim

Informed

Deterrence theory was developed by the classical school of Beccaria and Bentham.

Source Wikipedia: Deterrence (Penology)

Rational choice theory revived the classical school emphasis on rational calculation within a modern criminological framework.

Source Siegel, Criminology: The CoreLarry J. Siegel
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Cesare Beccaria
  • Lead section
    Beccaria is considered the father of modern criminal law and the father of criminal justice.
  • Developed By: Cesare Beccaria
  • In Group: Classical School and Rational Choice, Lead sentence
    Cesare Beccaria Bonesana, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (Italian: [ˈtʃeːzare bekkaˈriːa, ˈtʃɛː-]; 15 March 1738-28 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, economist, and politician. He is well remembered for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty, and was a founding work in the field of penology and the classical school of criminology.
View the Source
2. Siegel, Criminology: The Core
Larry J. Siegel, Cengage Learning
Wikipedia: Jeremy Bentham
Developed By: Jeremy BenthamView the Source
Wikipedia: Deterrence (Penology)
Informed: DeterrenceView the Source
Wikipedia: Emile Durkheim
Informed: Anomie TheoryView the Source
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