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1. Schools and Theories of CrimePositivist School Lecture 4

2. Positivist School • Intro • Cesare Lombroso • Ferri • Garofalo

3. Introduction to Positivist School • Criminal behaviour is the result of factors outside of the individual’s control. • Positivism or the criminal factors according to this school could be broken down into three main groups of factors, namely; • Biological • Psychological • Social

4. Cesare Lombroso • Italian prison doctor working in the late 19th century and sometimes considered the father of criminology. • He believed that physiological traits such as the measurements of one’s cheek bones, skull or hairline considered to be throwbacks to Neanderthal or primitive man which indicated the existence of atavistic criminal tendencies. • He accordingly invented the notion of a born criminal who has physiological traits or deformities, like; flattened or upturned nose, long arms and handle shaped ears. • He was influenced by Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution.

5. Cesare Lombroso • Lombroso supported the social degeneration theory where the human species may negatively evolve into a criminal class. • He assumed that whites were superior to non-whites by heredity. • According to him Africans were the first human beings that evolved upwards (standing) and then developed to yellow then white, stating that ‘only we white people have reached the ultimate symmetry of bodily form’.

6. Cesare Lombroso • Female criminality was the subject of his research where he argued that female criminals were rare and showed few signs of degeneration because the female’s natural passivity kept them away from breaking the law, as they lacked intelligence and initiative to become criminal.

7. Cesare Lombroso • To conclude: Lombroso’s concept of atavism was obviously wrong. But like so many others of his time, he sought to understand behavioural phenomena with reference to the principle of evolution.

8. FerriThe Criminal Saturation Law • According to Ferri the crime is the synthetic product of three major types of factors: • Physical or geographic • Anthropological and psychological • Social • Ferri’s law of saturation states that ‘the level of crime each year is determined by the different conditions of the physical and social environment combined with the congenital (فطري) tendencies. • As in chemistry, if a given volume of water at a definite temp will dissolve a fixed quantity of chemical substance and not an atom more or less, so in a given social environment with definite individual and physical conditions a fixed number of crimes, no more and no less, can be committed. • This law is an indication of the scientific nature of criminology.

9. FerriThe Criminal Saturation Law • Ferri’s law of criminal saturation influenced his view of the criminal punishment. • For him the criminal is in no way responsible for his act, since his crime is the inevitable consequence of certain conditions. • While irresponsible for his acts, Ferri considered the criminal accountable to the society at large. • He thus formulated the concept of social defense as a justification for punishment. • For him the punishment is not to deter or rehabilitate the criminals but to incapacitate them for as long as possible so that they no longer pose a threat to the peace and security of the society.

10. GarofaloThe Natural Crime Concept • Garofalo is best known for his attempt to formulate a natural definition of crime. • He rejected the legal definition of the crime on the basis of being arbitrary and unscientific. • He believed that the definition of the crime should be anchored in (linked to) human nature. • According to him the act would be considered criminal if it was universally condemned, and it would be so if it offended that natural altruistic sentiments شعور غيريof probity استقامة and pity.

11. GarofaloThe Natural Crime Concept • On the punishment sphere, he rejected the classical principle that punishment should fit the crime, arguing instead that it should fit the criminal. • According to him there are four categories of criminals, each requires different form of punishment:- • Extreme should be executed. • Impulsive (alcoholics and the insane) shall be imprisoned. • Professional (driven by their desires to commit crimes) eliminated by life imprisonment or expelled to a penal colony overseas. • Endemic crimes (peculiar to a given location or region) could be treated by changes or amendments in the law without harsh punishments. • …