Positivist Criminology: the search for a criminal type? Dan Ellingworth Understanding Criminology Friday, 24 October 2008

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1 Positivist Criminology: the search for a criminal type? Dan Ellingworth Understanding Criminology Friday, 24 October 2008

2 Lecture Outline The debate with classical criminology The basis of a positivist criminology Biological and Sociological Positivism

3 2 competing approaches to crime Classical Criminology Philosophy Free-will Problem Utility Maximisation The Calculating Criminal Positivist Criminology Individuals subject to external forces Under-socialisation Solution Deterrence Expert Study and Intervention

4 Positivist Critique of Classicism Critical of Rationality The cost-benefit calculation Critical of Universal Sentencing If the context of choice is different, shouldn t sentencing differ as well? Critical of lack of focus on criminal Really a theory of the state, not of the actor

5 Basis of Positivism (Jeffery 1960) Determinism: crime is caused by factors other than rational decisions Differentiation: criminals are different in some identifiable manner from noncriminals Pathology: this is something wrong : not just normal variation

6 Positivism and Science Positivism: observation and experimentation objective things that can be observed quantification: data Belief in science as a higher form of knowledge Religion < metaphysics < positive scientific knowledge (Auguste Comte) Not Why? questions, but How? N.B. Dare to Know from last week Specifically: identify causes of criminality, in order to rectify them

7 Influence: Social Darwinism Scientific theory regarding human evolution Socialisation, civilization, culture and evolution treated as synonymous Criminality seen as an under-socialised / underevolved behaviour Darwin: On the Origin of Species

8 Crime As Pre-determined Action Biological Positivism - Physical symptoms of under-development - Genetic explanations - Psychology - constitutional flaws - psychoticism etc. Sociological Positivism Poverty Culture and Subculture Social Exclusion Solution expert identification of cause, and isolation / remedy / removal from society

9 Individualistic Positivism Cesare Lombroso Italian physician the search for the criminal type studied body types of executed criminals Key approach: criminals are different from non-criminals atavism (a return to an earlier evolutionary form) as cause of individual s deviance Did address environmental causes in later versions

10 Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo Growing consideration of non-physical causes Physical factors Anthropological factors Social factors Strong support for state intervention in each area incl. better housing, birth control etc. to prevent crime Garofalo: criminal acts demonstrated a lack of pity (revulsion against causing suffering) and/or probity (respect for property rights of others) on the part of the criminal Punishment is less important than measure of social defence; against further offending

11 Adolphe Quetelet Belgian Mathematician ( ) Statistical approach to criminality: attempted to explain the noticeably consistent patterns in crime statistics.

12 Criticisms of Positivist Criminology Lombroso and biological positivism Physical differences assumed to signal under-evolution Methodologically flawed The socially powerful assumed to be superior: dangerous precedent Relieves society from any responsibility Expert domain expansion: danger of repressive intervention (eg. Mussolini) Generally Deterministic / Over-predictive Ignores social construction of crime : uncritical of official definitions and measurements Understates range of criminal behaviour and criminality

13 The essentialising of crime A huge range of human behaviour designated as criminal : this is the only common feature of these actions This essentialising of deviance allows us to Feel better about ourselves Condemn and moralise about others Use the designation of criminal to justify widespread inequalities Individualisation and Differentiation

14 Harms: Crime v. non-crime? Deliberate poisoning v. pollution The cigarette industry Low wages Agricultural subsidies in the West Adultery

15 Source: Professor Susanne Karstedt and Dr Stephen Farrall (2007) Law-abiding majority? The everyday crimes of the middle classes

16 Legacies of Positivism The study of the criminal, not crime Methodological rigour allied to science (at least in theory) Potential rehabilitation of the criminal Crime pattern analysis Crime Reduction Strategies Continued (limited) research into genetic and psychological disposition to crime

17 Classical V. Positivist Criminology Central to the debate is consideration of agency and structure Agency: we behave the way we do because we choose to Structure: we behave the way we do because of constraints placed on us

18 Summary so far Classical criminology emphasises agency: personal free-will focuses on crime deterrence and punishment Enduring influence: on the criminal justice system esp. punishment Positivist criminology emphasises structure: circumstances focuses on the causal factors associated with offending Enduring influence: on criminological research, and rehabilitation After Reading Week: Sociology arrives! Durkheim and Anomie