Beccaria, Cesare (1738–1794)

Cesare Bonesana Marchese Beccaria, was a key figure in the history of criminology and in the field of punishment. Typically, he is identified as the founder of the classical school of criminology, and as one of the first modern proponents of deterrence. In 1764, he anonymously published his ideas in a treatise titled Dei Delitti e delle Pene (On[Page 65]Crimes and Punishments). This text subsequently influenced the development of systems of punishment in most contemporaneous European nation states, and in the United States as well. It was translated into French in 1766 and a later edition, with an introduction by Voltaire, found its place in the salons and courts of Europe within movements of reform identified with the rising bourgeoisie and “enlightened” aristocrats. Praised for its clarity, eloquence, and humanity, On Crimes and Punishments was translated into English in 1767. Beccaria's views were hailed by Jeremy Bentham as the foundation of his work and were cited as an influence on the thought of William Blackstone. In the newly forming United States, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, and others recorded the use of Beccaria's insights in their efforts to shape both the federal constitution and new state judicial and criminal legislation and penal sanctions.

Along with many of his contemporaries, Beccaria believed that members of a society were bound by a social contract that legitimated laws for the security of their persons and property. He also argued that human behavior was driven by a utilitarian approach in which people sought to avoid pain and seek pleasure and happiness. His own summary of his views, as a “general axiom,” was that “in order that punishment should not be an act of violence perpetrated by one or many against a private citizen, it must be essential that it be public, speedy, necessary, the minimum possible in the given circumstances, proportionate to the crime, and determined by the law” (Beccaria, 1995, p. 113). His eloquent arguments against the use of torture and for the abolition of capital punishment were widely quoted in his day and retain their relevance today.

Somewhat ironically, more recent neoclassical criminology has been identified with a “get tough on crime” stance that only partially reflects Beccaria's initial plea for penal reform. Thus, contemporary scholars stress the role of rational choice in criminal behavior, the use of determinant rather than discretionary sentencing, and the deterrent rather than rehabilitative function of corrections.