Criminology

The Origins of Criminology

Although a concern with crime or rule breaking can be found as far back as ancient Babylonia, as evidenced by the Code of Hammurabi, modern criminologists usually trace the origins of their discipline to Western Europe during the Enlightenment period of the late [Page 434]eighteenth century. The Enlightenment was a time of social and intellectual reforms. Enlightenment philosophers, such as Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau, argued that social life should be guided by reason and direct experience rather than by the superstition and blind faith that had characterized social life during feudalism. Human reason and experience are embodied in what the Enlightenment philosophers called the social contract, that is, the members of a society agree to sacrifice a portion of their individual freedom by vesting government with the authority to enact laws for the benefit of all and to punish those who, in their pursuit of personal pleasure or gain, choose to infringe on others' liberties. This Enlightenment philosophy gave birth to what is today called the classical school of criminology.

The classical school is exemplified in the writings of Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794) and Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). Both Beccaria and Bentham were critical of the corrupt and tyrannical union that church leaders and the aristocracy had formed against the peasants and the rising middle class. They saw this corruption and tyranny mirrored in a criminal justice system that used secret accusations and flimsy evidence as grounds for imprisoning people and relied on torture to extract confessions. Punishments imposed by judges, who had unlimited discretion, were often arbitrary and had more to do with the social status of the offender than with the seriousness of the crime. Both Beccaria and Bentham argued that it is beyond the authority of judges to decide which and how laws should be enforced and to set penalties. The judge's duty is to determine on the basis of fact, impartially and uniformly, the guilt or innocence of the accused. Should the accused be found guilty, the penalty prescribed by law must be imposed, also impartially and uniformly.

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