The Positivist School was founded by
Cesare Lombroso and led by two others: Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo. In
criminology, it has attempted to find scientific objectivity for the measurement and quantification of criminal behavior. Its method was developed by observing the characteristics of criminals to observe what may be the root cause of their behavior or actions.
Since the Positivist's school of ideas came around, research revolving around its ideas has sought to identify some of the key differences between those who were deemed "criminals" and those who were not, often without considering flaws in the label of what a “criminal” is.
As the
scientific method
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific ...
became the major paradigm in the search for knowledge, the
Classical School's
social philosophy
Social philosophy examines questions about the foundations of social institutions, social behavior, and interpretations of society in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social ...
was replaced by the quest for scientific laws that would be discovered by experts. It is divided into biological, psychological, and social laws.
Biological positivism
If
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
's
Theory of evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variatio ...
was scientific as applied to animals, the same approach should be applied to "man" as an "animal". Darwin's theory of evolution stated that new species would evolve by the process of evolution. It meant that creatures would adapt to their surroundings and from that, a new species would be created over time. Biological positivism is a theory that takes an individual's characteristics and behavior that make up their genetic disposition is what causes them to be criminals. Biological positivism in theory states that individuals are born criminals and some are not.
Physical characteristics
Historically,
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
became interested in the problem of crime, producing studies of
physiognomy
Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the genera ...
(see
Johann Kaspar Lavater
Johann Kaspar (or Caspar) Lavater (; 15 November 1741 – 2 January 1801) was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian.
Early life
Lavater was born in Zürich, and was educated at the '' Gymnasium'' there, where J. J. Bo ...
and
Franz Joseph Gall) and the science of
phrenology which linked attributes of the mind to the shape of the
brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...
as revealed through the
skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...
. These theories were popular because they absolved
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
and any failures of its
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
of responsibility for criminal behavior. The problem lay in the propensities of individual offenders who were biologically distinguishable from law-abiding
citizens. This theme was amplified by the
Italian School and through the writings of
Cesare Lombroso (see ''L'Uomo Delinquente'', ''The Criminal Man'' and
Anthropological criminology
Anthropological criminology (sometimes referred to as criminal anthropology, literally a combination of the study of the human species and the study of criminals) is a field of offender profiling, based on perceived links between the nature of ...
) which identified physical characteristics associated with
degeneracy demonstrating that criminals were
atavistic throwbacks to an earlier evolutionary form. Charles Goring (1913) failed to corroborate the characteristics but did find criminals shorter, lighter and less intelligent, i.e. he found criminality to be "normal" rather than "pathological" (cf the work of
Hooton found evidence of biological inferiority).
William Sheldon identified three basic body or
somatotype
Somatotype is a highly disputed taxonomy developed in the 1940s by American psychologist William Herbert Sheldon to categorize the human physique according to the relative contribution of three fundamental elements which he termed ''somatotypes'' ...
s (i.e. ''endomorphs, mesomorphs'', and ''ectomorphs''), and introduced a scale to measure where each individual was placed. He concluded that delinquents tended to mesomorphy. Modern research might link physical size and athleticism and aggression because physically stronger people have the capacity to use violence with less chance of being hurt in any retaliation. Otherwise, such early research is no longer considered valid. The development of
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
has produced another potential inherent cause of criminality, with
chromosome
A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...
and other genetic factors variously identified as significant to select heredity rather than environment as the cause of crime (''see:
nature versus nurture''). However, the evidence from family, twin, and adoption studies shows no conclusive
empirical evidence
Empirical evidence for a proposition is evidence, i.e. what supports or counters this proposition, that is constituted by or accessible to sense experience or experimental procedure. Empirical evidence is of central importance to the sciences ...
to prefer either cause.
Intelligence
There are a number of reputable studies that demonstrate a link between lower intelligence and criminality. But the evidence is equivocal because studies among the prison population simply test those criminals actually caught, which might be because they failed to plan the crimes properly or because they were unable to resist interrogation techniques and admitted their crimes. If their intelligence is poor, they are also less likely to be deterred.
Emotional intelligence has also been closely related to aggression and criminals. People who tend to have a lower emotional intelligence are those that have a hard time managing their emotions and are more prone to act out and perpetrate criminal behavior.
Other medical factors
Testosterone
Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...
and
adrenaline
Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands an ...
have been associated with
aggression and
violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...
, and the
arousal and excited state associated with them. The excessive consumption of alcohol can lower blood sugar levels and lead to aggressiveness, and the use of chemicals in foods and drinks has been associated with hyper-activity and some criminal behaviour.
Psychological positivism
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
divided the personality into the
id, the primitive biological drives, the
superego, the internalised values, and the
ego,
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...
,
perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
, and
cognition. He proposed that criminal behaviour is either the result of
mental illness or a weak conscience.
John Bowlby
Edward John Mostyn Bowlby, CBE, FBA, FRCP, FRCPsych (; 26 February 1907 – 2 September 1990) was a British psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attach ...
proposed an
attachment theory
Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory concerning relationships between humans. The most important tenet is that young children need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal ...
in which maternal deprivation was a factor that might lead to delinquency. This has been discounted in favour of general privation (
Michael Rutter
Sir Michael Llewellyn Rutter CBE FRS FRCP FRCPsych FMedSci (15 August 1933 – 23 October 2021) was the first person to be appointed professor of child psychiatry in the United Kingdom. He has been described as the "father of child psych ...
: 1981) or "broken homes" (Glueck: 1950) in which absentee or uncaring parents tend to produce badly behaved children.
Hans Eysenck (1987) stated that, "…certain types of personality may be more prone to react with anti-social or criminal behaviour to environmental factors of one kind or another." He proposed three dimensions of personality:
introversion
The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl ...
/
extroversion
The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...
, neuroticism, and
psychoticism. For these purposes, personality is the settled framework of reference within which a person addresses the current situation and decides how to behave. Some traits will be dominant at times and then in a balanced relationship to other traits, but each person's traits will be reasonably stable and predictable (see Marshall: 1990 and Seidman: 1994). Hence, once conditioned into a criminal lifestyle, the relevant personality traits are likely to persist until a countervailing conditioning force re-establishes normal social inhibitions. Some forms of criminal behavior such as sexual offences have been medicalized with treatment offered alongside punishment.
Social positivism
In general terms, positivism rejected the Classical Theory's reliance on free will and sought to identify positive causes that determined the propensity for criminal behaviour. The Classical School of Criminology believed that the punishment against a crime, should in fact fit the crime and not be immoderate. This school believes in the fundamental right of equality and that each and every person should be treated the same under the law. Rather than biological or psychological causes, this branch of the School identifies "society" as the cause. Hence,
environmental criminology and other sub-schools study the spatial distribution of crimes and offenders (see
Adolphe Quetelet
Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet FRSF or FRSE (; 22 February 1796 – 17 February 1874) was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician and sociologist who founded and directed the Brussels Observatory and was influential in intro ...
, who discovered that crimes rates are relatively constant, and the
Chicago School which, under the leadership of
Robert E. Park, viewed the city as a form of superorganism, zoned into areas engaged in a continuous process of invasion, dominance, and succession). Meanwhile,
Émile Durkheim identified society as a social phenomenon, external to individuals, with crime a normal part of a healthy society. Deviancy was nothing more than "boundary setting," pushing to determine the current limits of morality and acceptability.
References
Further reading
*Goring, Charles. (1913). ''The English Convict: A Statistical Study''. London: HMSO.
*Hooton, Earnest A. ''The American Criminal''
*Marshall, W. L.; Laws, D. R. & Barbaree, H. E. (eds.), (1990). ''Handbook of Sexual Assault: Issues, Theories, and Treatment of the Offender'', New York, NY: Plenum Press.
*OpenLearn. (n.d.). Positivist School of Criminology. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/introduction-critical-criminology/content-section-1.2.
*
*
*Southeastern University. (2017, July 21). Classifying Crime: Major Schools of Criminology. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from
https://online.seu.edu/articles/classifying-crime-major-schools-of-criminology/.
*Sulloway, F. J. (2005, December 1). The Evolution of Charles Darwin. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-evolution-of-charles-darwin-110234034/.
*Wickert, C. (2019, April). Biological theories of crime. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from
https://soztheo.de/theories-of-crime/biological-theories-of-crime/?lang=en.
{{Positivism
Criminology
Positivism
Social theories