Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
ACTIVITY 1.1.: Bridging Questions
1. When you hear the word “crime”, what comes to your mind?
2. When someone studies criminology, how do they explain the causes of crime or
criminal behavior?
3. Analyze the meaning of criminology based on experiences shared. Do you agree with
the meanings associated with the word ”criminology”?
4. With what should the word “criminology” be associated? Why?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
1. Explain bad behavior during prescientific days and;
2. Identify the developments in the study of criminology;
3. Define the definition of criminology and crime and;
4. Describe the scopes involved in the study of criminology;
5. Identify the different schools of thought in criminology and;
6. Explain the concept of the schools of though in criminology.
DISCUSSION
LESSON 1: Emergence of Criminology
Criminology refers to the scientific study of crimes, criminals, and victims. It also
involves the prevention and solution of crimes.
In prescientific days, bad behavior was explained through religious or spiritual
nature. In the religious aspect, all human beings were considered born sinners because
of the legacy of original sin, thus crime was equated with sin – the violation of a sacred
obligation. In the spiritual aspect, it was thought that criminal act was the work and
influence of the evil spirit. People were believed to be possessed with good or evil spirit
that resulted to their good or bad behavior.
Superstition and fear of satanic possession dominated the belief and thinking of
people during the Ages. Those who violated the social norms or religious practices were
considered to be witches or possessed by demons.
Social philosophers in the mid-eighteenth century started to rethink the
predominating concepts of law and justice. They emphasize the relationship between
crime and punishment should be balanced and fair, thus the rational approach to
punishment, known as the period of classical criminology.
The scientific method of crime and punishment started to emerge in the late
nineteenth century, which emphasizes careful observation and analysis of crime as a
natural phenomenon. This gave birth to positivist criminology.
Sociological positivism began in the early twentieth century when Robert Ezra
Park, Ernest W. Burgess, Louis Wirth, and colleagues conducted a research that
emphasized social forces operating in urban areas that create criminal interactions.
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
In mid – twentieth century, most criminologist embraced the ecological view or
the socialization view of crime that explained crime focused on how social institutions
influence human behavior.
In the Philippines, criminology as a discipline started when the former Supreme
Court Justice Felix Angelo Bautista founded the Philippine College of Criminology
(PCCR), formerly known as “Plaridel Educational Institution,” in 1954. It was considered
as the pioneer school of criminology for scientific crime detection and police science
education in the Philippines. Since then, the criminology profession in the Philippines
further developed in the enactment of Republic Act (R.A.) Number 6506, otherwise
known as “An Act Creating the Board of Examiners for Criminologists in the Philippines
and for Other Purposes” in 1972. It started professionalizing the criminology profession
by requiring a licensure examination. The Professional Educators Association for
Criminology Education was established sometime in 1983, and Professional
Criminologist Association of the Philippines was then organized sometime in 1988.
These two organizations helped in improving the criminology profession in the
Philippines. In November 2018, R.A. Number 11131 also known as “The Criminology
Profession Act of 2018” repealed R.A. No. 6506 and regulated the practice of
criminology in the Philippines.
ACTIVITY 2.1.: Bridging Questions
1. Describe criminology and crime in your own words.
2. What would be your reaction if someone is involved in the commission of a crime?
Why would you react that way?
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
Lesson 2: Basic Concepts of Criminology
What is Criminology?
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, the word criminology was derived from
the Latin word crimen, which means offense, and the Greek word logos, which means
to study.
According to Adler (2012), the term “criminology” was coined by the Italian law
professor Raffaele Garofalo as criminologia in 1885. The French anthropologist Paul
Topinard used it for the first time in French (criminiologie) in 1887. “Criminology” aptly
described and encompassed the scientific concern with the phenomenon of crime.
Edwin H. Sutherland and Donald R. Cressey define criminology as “the body of
knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon.” The scope of criminology covers:
1. the making of laws;
2. the breaking of laws; and
3. society’s reaction to the breaking of laws.
Criminology is defined under R.A. No. 11131, also known as “The Philippine
Criminology Profession Act of 2018,” as the scientific study of crimes, criminals, and
victims. It also deals with the prevention and solution of crimes.
The objective of criminology is to develop a body of general and verified
principles and of other types of knowledge regarding the process of law, crime, and
treatment or prevention. In the book of Adler (2012), it was cited that Sutherland
mandates that criminologists, like all other scientists, collects information for study and
analysis in accordance with the research methods of modern science.
Criminology is more concerned about analyzing the phenomena of crime and
criminality, performing scientifically accurate studies, and developing sound theoretical
explanations of crime and criminal behavior.
What is Crime?
Crime is an act or omission in violation of a law committed without defense or
justification. The Revised Penal Code (RPC) of Reyes (2018) states that crime is
committed not only by malice (dolo) but also by means of fault (culpa). There is deceit
when the act is performed with deliberate intent. There is fault when the wrongful act
results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill.
The three most common concepts of crime used by criminologists according to
Siegel (2016) are:
1. Consensus View of Crime – the belief that the majority of citizens in a society share
common values and agree on what behaviors should be defined as criminal.
2. Conflict View of Crime – the belief that criminal behavior is defined by those in
power in such a way as to protect and advance their own self – interest.
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
3. Interactionist View of Crime – the belief that those with social power are able to
impose their values on society as a whole, and these values then define criminal
behavior.
Concepts of Crime Description
1. Consensus View The law defines crime
Agreement exists on outlawed
behavior
Laws apply to all citizens equally
2. Conflict View The law is the tool of the ruling class
Crime is a politically defined concept
“Real crimes” are not outlawed
The rule is used to control the
underclass
3. Interactionist View Moral enterpreneurs define crime
Crimes are illegal because society
defines them that way
Criminal labels are life – transforming
events
What is a Criminal?
A criminal is any person who has been convicted by a final judgment in a court of
law if the crime charged against him/her beyond reasonable doubt.
Who is a Victim?
The offended party or the person who suffers injury or harm caused by an act of
another person is what we call a “victim.” Victims come in two forms; victims of crime
and natural disaster victims. The former are those who are harmed and injured by
someone who committed a crime under the law, while the latter are those who are
victimized by natural disasters, such as earthquake, flash floods, volcanic eruption, and
the like.
ACTIVITY 3.1.: Bridging Questions
1. What comes to your mind when you read the phrase “schools of thought in
criminology?” In the space provided below, write down all your ideas.
2. What is the importance of the schools of thought in criminology?
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
The concept of criminology that s
3. Differentiate the schools of thought in criminology.
The concept if criminology that studies crime and criminal behavior was not
evident not until the eighteenth century when Cesare Beccaria established what came
to be known as the “Classical School of Criminology.”
During the Middle Ages (1200 – 1600), people who violated social norms or
religious practices were believed to be witches or possessed by demons. The use of
cruel torture to extract confessions was common. Those cobicted of violent or theft
crimes suffered extremely harsh penalties, including whipping, branding, maiming, and
execution (Siegal, 2016).
A. Classical Criminology
Classical criminology grew out of a reaction against the barbaric system of law,
punishment, and justice that existed before the French Revolution in 1789; It was
pioneered by an Italian nobleman and professor of law, Cesare Beccaria. He published
an essay titled “On Crimes and Punishment” in 1764 that made a major reform on the
judicial and penal system throughout Europe. It governs the principle of “Let punishment
fit the criminal.”
Cesare Becaria
An Italian who was one of the first scholars to develop a systematic understanding
of why people commit crime.
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
He believes that all human beings are rational beings and that they possess free
will – the capacity to choose between right or wrong. Thus, if a person commits a
crime even if he knows that it is wrong then he/she should be punished.
Beccaria made an important observation regarding the application of punishments:
that it must be certain, swift, and severe to outweigh the benefits that the offenders
get in order to deter future crimes.
Jeremy Bentham
A British lawyer and philosopher who wrote “Principles of Morals and Legislation,”
where he applied the principle of utility.
He was concerned with achieving “the greatest happiness of the greatest number.”
Utilitarianism – it assumes that all human actions are calculated in accordance
with their likelihood of bringing happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain). People
weigh the probabilities of present and future pleasures against those of present and
future pain.
Hedonism – is a doctrine whose central idea is that pleasure is the main goal of
life.
B. Neo – classical Criminology
The neo-classical school was a modification of the classical criminology where it
contends that children and lunatics cannot calculate pleasure and pain and that they do
not possess free will, thus they should be exempted from criminal punishments. It
introduced the application of mitigating circumstances in imposing penalties.
C. Positivist Criminology
Positivist school of criminology emerged from the positive philosophy of the
nineteenth century, which applied scientific methods to explain criminal behavior. It
was anchored in the doctrine of determinism, where it is believed that criminals are like
sick people that need to be treated rather than punished. Criminals commit crimes
because of factors that are beyond their control, such as poverty. It governs the
principle “Let the punishment fits the criminal.”
Determinism – it means that events have causes that preceded them.
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
Positivism – the branch of social science that uses the scientific method of the
natural sciences and suggests that human behavior is a product of social, biological,
psychological, or economic forces that can be empirically measured.
Scientific method – the use of verifiable principles and procedures for the
systematic acquisition of knowledge.
The group of thinkers considered from this school were Cesare Lombroso, Raffaele
Garofalo, and Enrico Ferri.
Cesare Lombroso
An Italian physician and anthropologist who wrote the book titled Criminal Man in
1876, which he posited the theory of the born criminal, where it involved the concept
of atavism in explaining the causes of criminality.
Atavism is an idea that criminals are evolutionary throwback to an earlier form or life
and that they have identified physical stigmata that includes protruding jaws,
drooping eyes, large ears, twisted and flattish noses, long arms relative to the lower
limbs, and sloping shoulders.
Types of Criminal by Lombroso
1. Born Criminal – those who are born possessing atavistic stigmata
2. Born Criminals – those who possess some stigmata but are not born criminals and
rather became a criminal as a result of some changes in their brain that hinders them to
distinguish right from wrong. Examples of insane criminals are kleptomaniacs,
nymphomaniacs and child molesters.
3. Criminaloid – those with no physical peculiarities like the born or insane criminals. It
is further categorized as:
3.1. Habitual Criminals – those who became criminals by contact with other
criminals, the abuse of alcohol, and other distressing circumstances.
3.2. Juridical Criminals – those who fails in conflict with the law by accident.
3.3. Criminal by Passion – those who are hot – tempered and impulsive persons
who commit violent acts when provoked.
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
Raffaele Garofalo
An Italian nobleman, magistrate, senator, and professor of law who rejected the
classical principle that punishment should fit the crime, arguing instead that it should
fit the criminal.
He explained criminal behavior, not to physical features, but to their psychological
equivalents that he called “moral anomalies.”
As cited in the book of Adler (2010), Garofalo defines natural crimes as those that
offend the basic moral sentiments of probity (respect for the property of others) and
piety (revulsion against the infliction of suffering on others).
Types Criminals by Garofalo
1. Extreme Criminal – are those criminal who commit violent acts who shows a lack of
pity.
2. Impulsive Criminal – alcoholics and the insane.
3. Professional Criminal – normal individuals who choose to commit crime and require
elimination by life imprisonment or transportation to a penal colony.
4. Endemic Criminal – those who commit crimes peculiar to a given region and mala
prohibita crimes or acts that are prohibited by law.
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
Enrico Ferri
Ferri was the best known associate of Lombroso a member of the Parliament a
public lecturer, and a lawyer.
He believed that criminals should not be held morally responsible for their crimes
because they did not choose to commit it, but rather they did not choose to commit
it, but rather they were driven to commit them by conditions of their lives.
He believed also that the most common characteristics of criminals were moral
insensibility combined with low intelligence.
LET US ASSESS
Exercise A: APPLICATION
1. Illustrate in a chart the different concepts of the schools of thought in criminology.
2. Determine what schools of thought in criminology can be applied in the following
scenarios:
a. Hailey stabbed her classmate in the back using a ballpoint pen when they had an
argument about their favorite celebrities and was exempted from punishment.
b. James stole a pair of shoes in the department store even if he knew that he didn’t
have enough money to pay for it.
c. Adelaide steals goods in the market in order to provide for her family who suffers
extreme poverty.
LET US ASSESS
REFERENCES
References:
1. INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY by: Maria Theresa Ramonida Amparado
and Gerry J. Caňo, PhD. Published by REX Book Store
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Module 1: Historical Evolution of Criminology
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