In 1764, Cesare Beccaria published the book, On Crime and Punishment. His work provided the foundations of classical criminology. In classical criminology, benefits and consequences are argued to be behind all human behavior. Most people compare the future benefits and costs of particular actions before they commit a crime. The argument put forward is that individuals would not participate in any criminal action if the cost is relatively higher than the benefit (Marcello 3). This paper seeks to analyze the Beccaria’s classical school of criminology and how it changed the justice system in the western world. It also further explores the causes of recidivism and how the deterrence theory associated with Beccaria’s work has failed the criminal justice system.
Inspired by ideas from the enlightenment, Beccaria came up with a new way of looking at crime and punishment. Under what is now known as the classical school, Beccaria and his contemporaries argued that humans have free will (Beccaria 10). They also try their best to maximize pleasure to reduce the amount of pain. According to the classical school, human behavior is inherently controlled by fear (Marcello 7). Punishment is necessary to limit human behavior and laws are designed to limit human desire to commit crime. When people design justice systems, the goal is to prevent crime through the fear of punishment. Beccaria and his contemporaries believed that all human beings are bound to try to take actions that are self-serving and because of these actions they are bound to commit crime. Avoiding the scenario of uncontrollable individuals, it was imperative that people give up certain freedoms in their quest for harmony. This means that a centralized state is important to harmony and the limiting of crime.
The classical school argued that punishment is critical in the deterrence of crime and states have the power to enforce the laws. Another principle of the classical approach that relates to Beccaria’s vision and benevolence is the idea that all punishment should be able to fit the crime and in the application of the law, states should exercise restraint. Due process is an integral part of the administration of justice.
Beccaria advocated for a more rational administrative law as compared to the one that was based on superstition, make belief and privileges associated with hereditary rights (4). He went on to condemn practices such as torture and capital punishment. His ideas greatly influenced changes in the legal system in Western Europe and across the globe. The current legal system borrows heavily from Beccaria’s ideas that the punishment should be proportional to the crime. The ideas of individual freedom that had been developed by during the enlightenment were first applied to law by Beccaria. All these aspects makes Beccaria a visionary. Capital punishment is still practiced in some Western societies but only in relation to serious crimes.
Correctional facilities have failed to reduce recidivism rates because the incentive to commit crime is higher than the cost. Because of the difficult of reintegration in society, criminals see the return to correctional facilities not as bad as struggled to make it in society. In instances where correctional facilities fail to equip offenders with necessary skills to cope with the outside world, individuals become repeat offenders because all they know is crime (Spohn and Holleran 345). These individual see the cost of failing to get a job or to reintegrate as higher than being locked up. Beccaria’s deterrence theory has it shortfalls. Increasing penalties has not always reduced crime. The United States increased sentencing penalties during the administration of President Bill Clinton, this only increased the crime rate and repeat offenders. Research by Spohn and Holleran indicate that increasing penalties on crime has been counterproductive (352).They find that imprisonment did not reduce recidivism rates. The War of Drugs in the United States which levels increased punishment on drug related crimes has shown that Beccaria’s deterrence theory needs to be revised.
Incarceration is often used as a political tool to show citizens that the government is taking some actions against crime. The fact that more than sixty percent of offenders become repeat offenders shows that the punishment system is not working. Advocates of deterrence would argue that repeat offenders are emerge because the punishment is not severe. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union have argued that the expansion of the criminal justice system has worked to the country’s disadvantage (Spohn and Holleran 349). It affects mostly minority youths.
In conclusion, the classical school of criminology has been applied to the criminal justice system around the world for decades. The idea that the calculation of costs and benefits would deter individuals from committing crimes has not worked impressively with the United States judicial system. The high rate of recidivism and the breakdown of families due to the harsh penalties of the prison industrial complex asks for a new system based on a thorough assessment of individual crime and conditions under which the crime was committed. The ideas of Beccaria help change the just system for the better but evidence shows that they are not as effective today.
Works Cited
Beccaria, Cesare. “On Crimes and Punishments”. In R. Bellamy (Ed.) (R. Davies, Trans.), On
Crimes and Punishments and Other Writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Spohn , Cassia and Holleran, David. “The Effects of Imprisonment on Recidivism Rates of
Felony Offenders: A Focus on Drug Offenders”. Criminology 40.2 (2012): 329-357.
Maestro, Marcello (1973). Cesare Beccaria and the Origins of Penal Reform. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press.
