Determinism - In criminology, determinism is a philosophical idea that asserts that a person’s behavior is dictated by biological and psychological factors unique to them, and by environmental factors.
Positivist- Positivist criminology is a philosophical idea that argues that criminals are such by nature, not nurture. In other words, they are born with characteristics that make them criminals later in life.
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Free Will - Free will is a philosophy that counters determinism. According to the idea of free will, the behavior of a person is self-determined.
Social Contract Theory - Social contract theory suggests that a person’s moral and political behaviors are determined by the rules and agreements they have with others in their society
Behaviorism - Behavioral psychology explains behavior acquisition. It contends that behaviors are acquired through conditioning, rather than independent activities of the mind.
Conditioning- This a process by which a person’s response to particular stimuli becomes more predictable due to continuous exposure or rewards for giving the desired response
Cost Benefits Analysis - It is one of the strategies that can be applied to effect behavioral change. It involves weighing the benefits of certain behaviors against the costs in order to establish its desirability.
Compatibilism - Though determinism and free will represent conflicting ideas, compatibilism believes that one can use both philosophies to explain human behavior without being logically inconsistent. In other words, compatibilism suggests that determinism and free will are compatible.
The roles of Cesare Beccaria and Cesare Lombroso
Criminal law and justice have changed over the years. Cesare Beccaria and Cesare Lombroso are two of the people whose ideas formed the basis of modern criminal systems. Beccaria was one of the first people to put forward robust philosophical arguments against torture, the death penalty, and secret confessions (Hostettler, 2011) . Beccaria lived at a time when the prevailing school of thought was severe punishments for offenders in revenge for the committed crimes, commonly referred to as “the eye for an eye principle.” Beccaria asserted that the aim of criminal justice systems should be to deter crimes and create a harmonious society, rather than make the offender suffer for the crime (Hostettler, 2011) . Cesare Lombroso tried to sway the criminal justice system from the focus on the nature of crimes to the of fender's characteristics and habits (Ferrero, 1911). H e contended that criminal behavior had its roots in physical and constitutional defects.
References
Ferrero, G. L. (1911). Criminal man, according to the classification of Cesare Lombroso.
Hostettler, J. (2011). Cesare Beccaria: The Genius of 'On Crimes and Punishments. Hampshire: Waterside Press.
