1. Outline the main tenets of classical criminological theory.
Bentham and Beccaria argued that at the core of all criminal behavior is rational choice. Classical criminological theory describes crime as a free will decision to make a criminal choice. This choice is made by applying the pain-pleasure principle: people act in ways that maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Rational choice, free will, and the pain-pleasure principle are main tenets of classical criminology theory because the theory is based on the idea that people will make the rational choice of their own free will to do acts that will benefit themselves or others (that they will receive pleasure from) rather than acts that will end in punishment to themselves or others. The hedonistic calculus: the weighing of pleasure vs. pain.
2. What role does rational choice play in criminal behavior for classical theorists?
It causes a divide between how crime used to be defined through religion and opens the possibility for “classical criminology” to be based on choice. If a choice is rational and not harmful to society, it likely won’t be deemed as a crime. This theory is based on the idea that people are more likely to make rational choices that will not harm society or themselves, rather than choices that will harm themselves or the majority.
3. Why is the concept of deterrence so important to classical theory?
The idea of the pain-pleasure principle deters people from making choices that will cause pain for them and others. So this principle works with the concept of deterrence to encourage people to make rational choices. Before, punishment such as torture or execution was used as deterrence, not that this always worked. With classical theory, the idea that making an irrational choice will cause pain or punishment is used as a deterrent to encourage more pleasure-seeking behavior that also helps the majority. Knowing the pain or punishment you will receive helps deter people from committing crimes, and the idea is that knowing these punishments will prevent crime rather than just punish those who commit crimes. The punishment should be “just enough” to deter people rather than harsh punishments.
4. Outline the importance of certainty, severity, and speed to the deterring effects of punishment.
I would assume that if the punishment is certain, very severe, and will be drawn out that this would deter people from committing crimes, but as discussed in class this wasn’t always the case. Public executions would encourage more pickpockets, so there will always be people who commit crime even with the possibility of punishment. The “certainty” of punishment can encourage those who like to take risks to try and commit acts that will end in punishment without being caught. This can have the opposite effect of a deterrent. Having a punishment that isn’t very severe or would be over quickly also might not have a deterrent effect.
Certainty: perceived certainty of punishment, the probability of norm violation decreases. Certainty has to reach a tipping level for a punishment to be effective. (Most important principle of deterrence).
Severity: punishments have to be severe enough to outweigh the pleasure of a criminal behavior.
Speed: punitive response should be quick.
5. How rational is choice?
This question, in my opinion, is much too broad to be able to answer with inclusion for all of society. I would say that overall most people make choices that are rational, but there are so many instances in everyone’s lives where they have made irrational choices. When it comes to crime, I assume that most people today make rational decisions to avoid going to prison, but there still are people who break the law every day. The idea of the “rational choice” being the choice that rewards the most pleasure to the individual makes me believe that people do in fact make more rational choices, but there are still many irrational choices that people make. Many things like emotions, social factors, and other psychological forces can impact our ability to make rational choices, as well as things like drugs or alcohol.
6. Does deterrence work?
I think in some instances yes, but in other instances no. In the case of punishment from the law (getting arrested, going to jail, etc.), it can encourage people to sort of test the system and see how far they can go without getting caught, but it can also deter people from committing crime. By the definition of deterrence, it should always work but there are some punishments that don’t work to deter people from committing crimes or making irrational decisions. As discussed in class, many people commit acts of assault or homicide based on emotional, sometimes even split-second decisions and it isn’t always a matter of deterrence. Some kinds of people are more deterrable than others; for example, future-oriented, pessimistic, older, black or female people can be more easily deterred from crimes. On the other hand, white, male, younger, impulsive, lower class, or optimists are less deterrable from crime. Capital punishment such as the death penalty does not deter people from crimes like murder, but in fact can increase the amount of murders committed in the surrounding area at that time. This is called the “brutalizing effect”.
