Essays on Beccaria

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 ...

The classical school of criminology is based on Beccaria and Bentham. The main idea was that every person is only an animal when it comes to criminal affairs. Beccaria and Bentham considered that a person has a free will to do everything one wants. Hence, is a crime is committed, it was only a person’s will to commit it. In such a case, a punishment for every case will be determined only by the crime. Besides, the graveness of the punishment should be determined not by the harm caused to a victim, but by the harm caused to the society. The positivist school of ...

DOES THE DEATH PENALTY’S DETERRENT VALUE OUTWEIGH ITS NEGATIVE FACTORS, AS THE POSSIBILITY OF ERROR AND THE INCREASED EXPENSE WHEN COMPARED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT? DO YOU THINK THAT THE DEATH PENALTY HAS BEEN APPLIED IN A RACIALLY DISCRIMINATORY MANNER? SUPPORT YOUR ANSWERS

Socrates was famously executed by the state for corrupting the youth and although he had the opportunity to escape his fate he chose to stay because he felt that he owed his life to his government because in those times the Grecian government basically fed and clothed you, so it stands to reason you might owe a ...

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Historical and Intellectual Background Cesare Beccaria Bonesana, one of the leading exponents of the social contract theory in criminology, outlined his philosophy in his treatise Dei delitti e dellepene which became symbolic of the Italian Enlightenment in the renaissance years that engulfed the European scene. His views on crime and punishment boasted of novel elements and were primarily centered on providing speedy justice with the penal measures being proportional to the delinquent act. Beccaria’s works were considered to be a protest against the law enforcement torture used to extract confession from the accused individuals. Beccaria’s views not ...

Part a

The modern criminology seems to be stemmed from the amalgamation of the two different schools of thoughts namely classical school originating in the 18th century and the positivist school beginning in the 19th century. It is therefore, necessary to analyze both school of thoughts with respect to crimes and criminals to know the similarities and difference shared by both school of thoughts. It was a general trend before the 18th century to explain every phenomenon in religious context or in the context of spiritual nature. However, the 18th century gave a new world view to the people because of the ...

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Introduction

Capital Punishment, also known as a Death Penalty, is a legal process by which a person accused of a crime is put to death. The term is derived from the Latin word “capitalis”, meaning beheading. Widely regarded as one of the most controversial topics of the 21st century, this paper focuses on the historical, moral and social aspects of the use of capital punishment. It covers all arguments both in favor of and against this form of punishment.

Historical Significance

Capital Punishment and Death Penalty Law is a centuries old phenomenon. The first death penalty laws were established in Eighth Century B.C for 25 ...

1. Is aggression an innate and deterministic quality from birth, or is it something that one or all can control, as a matter of free will and choice, to be used when we need it in a calculated manner? There are different views that are given with regards to the origin of aggression among humans. Theorists like Lorenz and Freud view aggression as an innate quality of human beings but the more recent social theories tend to point out that aggression in humans are social in origin and coming from frustration and environmental influences (Hayes, 2013). Behaviorist scientists impugn Freud’ ...

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History With the crime rate steadily increasing in the United States, there have been talks of reinstating death penalty or capital punishment. This issue has sparked debate among people from different institutions. Capital punishment, however, is not something new. Historically, capital punishment was already used in ancient Babylonia (which is now called Iraq) as early as the 1700s B.C. and the specifics are written in the Code of Hammurabi, a legal document stating 25 crimes, including adultery but excluding murder, punishable by death (Guernsey ...

The death penalty in the United States is absolutely a complicated idea – the notion of sending someone to death for their crimes is considered, by many, to be an outdated notion that was thrown out along with the stockade. At the same time, there is still a great deal of public support for the policy as a means of deterring crime. When contemplating the prison costs and the problems present in the criminal justice system, it becomes a bit more obvious that the death penalty is not a economic or even moral idea. Because of the divided amount of support for the death penalty, ...

Part one: Punishment of offenders

The justice correction system pay an important role in the society. One significant role which the corrections systems undertakes is punishing offenders (Beccaria, 1996). The concept of punishment and retributions has been part of the American justice system for a while. In analyzing criminal punishment, a number of questions arise. First, what is criminal punishment? Criminal punishment or punishment of offenders is the imposition of hardship to counter some delinquent behavior. Some of the authorized punishments which can be imposed include monetary fines, community service, restitution, prison sentencing and even death. Secondly, what is the purpose of punishments? According to the ...

The death penalty in Texas has long been a controversial issue – the idea of putting someone to death for their crimes is thought, by some, to be an antiquated idea that went out with the stocks. However, there is still significant public support for the measure as a deterrent. When considering the prison costs and the flaws inherent in the justice system, it becomes somewhat clearer that the death penalty is not a cost-effective or ethical measure. Given the non-unanimous level of support for the death penalty, as well as the possibility of executing innocent citizens who have been wrongfully convicted, the ...

The death penalty is absolutely one of the most hotly debated issues in criminal law, and in national politics. The issue becomes one of whether or not the death penalty is successful as a deterrent, or if it merely kills inmates, some of whom may be innocent. There are those who believe that the death penalty, being the ultimate punishment for an offender, is a threat that can successfully discourage people from performing wrong doing (and therefore foregoing that fate). Philosopher Immanuel Kant is one of the loudest philosophical voices to advocate for the death penalty; his notions of Ethics involve ...

dates and time Part of each country’s criminal justice system is to both punish and try to rehabilitate offenders, either convicted in prison or under community supervision, so they can return to the society and be integrated with it in the smoothest and most effective way. Actually, punishment and rehabilitation are part of a four-objective criminal system that also includes deterrence, which alongside punishment and rehabilitation will be further researched throughout this paper in terms of which is more effective. The aforementioned objectives will be discussed taking into consideration the effect they have on the victims and their ...

Abstract

This essay will outline the nature of the death penalty in terms of its birth and its ideals and how this translates in terms of the democratic process. Such philosophers and social reformers as T.H Green, Beccaria, Hobbes and Jeremy Bentham to discuss the benefits and negative factors of the death penalty in terms of its effectiveness as a deterrent and assess whether or not it’s value as a deterrent outweighs these negative factors. This process will inevitably lead me to the conclusion in which I hope to establish the fairness or notion of equivalency of the death penalty. ...

The prisoner's dilemma is an example of game theory used to display why two separate individuals might choose not to cooperate with each other, regardless of the fact it will be in both their best interests. The prisoner’s dilemma example is as follows; Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. The prisoners are both being held in solitary confinement with no means of communicating with the other. The police don’t have enough evidence to convict both the criminals on the main charge. As a result of this they plan to give them both a year in ...

Bibliography;

Green, T. H. (1882). Ethics, Metaphysics, and Political Philosophy. Mander, W. J. & Dimova-Cookson, M. Oxford University Press, (2006). This a treatise on political philosopher T.H Green arguably one of the creators of the welfare state. I used this work to illustrate the motivations of the state for their use of punishment highlighting the fact that harsh punishment such as the death penalty is a direct threat of violence to the public and this is a negative influence on crime. Locke, John (1689) Two Treatises of Government This work is on the functions of government, I picked this out ...

In the late eighteenth century a well known English philosopher called Jeremy Bentham proposed the idea of what he called the ‘Panopticon’. A prison that would allows a handful of guards to watch (-opticon) all (pan-) inmates, without them necessarily knowing whether or not they’re being watched. The basic design is a circular building with all cells located on the outside of the circle where in the centre is located the guards watch tower of which the guards can observer all the inmates of that floor. He asserted that one watchman could in theory watch an entire prison of inmates ...

I intend to discuss the use of the death penalty as a deterrent and the moral and societal implications that may have. Is the death penalty a deterrent and if so what can be learned from death? Socrates was famously executed by the state for corrupting the youth and although he had the opportunity to escape his fate he chose to stay because he felt that he owed his life to his government. He may have felt that way because in those times the Grecian government basically fed and clothed you, so it stands to reason you might owe a ...

In deterrence theory it is believed that people weigh the gains and consequences of violating or obeying the law. We have two classifications of deterrence theory: general and specific deterrence theory. General deterrence prevents general population crime. This is because one is punished as an example to the rest. This is because one has not yet performed the crime; the punishment is to show the horror of what would happen if they committed the crime, thus deterring them from even the thought whereas the pictorial representation of the horror of reccurpesion is very fresh and clear. For example ...

There are two forms of controlling behavior that members of a society are expected to display. The norms of society are the informal form while the laws of society are the formal form (Licht, 2008). Crime is an action that is a breach of the laws of society and may involve harm to society while a breach of the norms of society is known as delinquency. Of course, adults are not the only ones who commit crimes. Even juveniles, i.e. children and teens below the age of 18, can commit crimes, and a crime committed by a juvenile is referred to as juvenile delinquency ...

The death penalty is absolutely one of the most hotly debated issues in criminal law, and in national politics. The issue becomes one of whether or not the death penalty is successful as a deterrent, or if it merely kills inmates, some of whom may be innocent. There are those who believe that the death penalty, being the ultimate punishment for an offender, is a threat that can successfully discourage people from performing wrong doing (and therefore foregoing that fate). However, according to Beccaria's theories of punishment, as well as research and the opinions of others, the death penalty is not, ...

Social theories are ideas generated by scholars in attempting to explain the social structures of the society. These theories touch on issues such as religion, crime, education, politics, philosophy and many other aspects of the society. Each theorist has held divergent views on different issues and such scholarly debate is always constructive. Criminology and theories under the divergent delinquent acts and have been explored by several theorists. Theorists such as Ernest Burgess, Robert Park and Cesare Beccaria have expressed their theories in their works. This paper evaluates the life and works of Cesare Beccaria especially his theories on crimes ...

Introduction

In the recent years there has been a high growth in the number of people who are getting incarcerated. This has led to a lot of debate on the legitimacy of the penal system. Is it really working to reduce or deter criminal behaviour? Is there anything in the punishment system that needs to be changes? The penal system should be revisited in order to address the high incarceration rates in the country.

The Legitimacy for Penal Punishment

There are theories that have contributed to the penal system. The choice theory in criminology has contributed over the years to justifying and specifying penal punishment. Each man ...