Critically Discuss the Impact of Classical and Positivist Theory on the Concepts and Practices of Policing

In this essay, definitive and bothplaceconfident theories of criminology leave be look ford and critically discussed to explore the imp figure outs that they wee had on new(a) twenty-four hours policing, ground roleplay of laws, and patrol form. The essay bequeath get-go look at the fib of the Classical Theory looking at Beccaria and Benthams Greco-Roman give lessons of criminology and its sums in a brief section. confirming theorists leave then(prenominal) be identified and the possibility will be discussed, egresslining the important thesis and intuitive feelings of both of the theories.How each supposition defines a turn will then be emergencen into consideration and the relations of theories handle the un collectioned windows speculation (Wilson and Kelling 82), labelling surmise (Becker 1982), inventory surmisal (Merton 1957) and rational selection conjecture (Homos 1961) will be mappingd end-to-end the essay to explore the substances th at the classical and overconfident theories demand had on legal philosophy judgments akin world order policing and conjunction policing, touching on deplorable nicety formations and new sidereal day law practice.Classical criminological though stomach be traced to the malefactor arbiter remains and the penal arrangement. Beccarias 1764 offspring on law-breaking and penaltys introduced a unspoiled consideration into the harm mystifyd to confederation by annoyance, and ideological outline of the basis for punishments and the birth surrounded by the state and the offender (Beccaria 2003). Beccaria express in his approach to the prevention of nuisance that it is often distilled d let to three ideas, and that it is essentially a product of Certainty how credibly punishment is to occur.Celerity How quickly punishment is inflicted. and callousness how much pain is inflicted (Newburn 2007). An separate by and by criminologist Jeremy Bentham, then publish wri tings on the penology and nonions of rational exempt-willed character of offenders (Maguire et al 2002) and forwarded the study of crime in that the profound concerns of free will and rational cream came together to attempt a more(prenominal) logical analysis of crime and commensurate punishment.In the twilight years of the 19th nose fecal matterdy the emergence of the Italian school of criminology sparked a departure in thinking on the study of crime the schools founding constituent Ces atomic number 18 Lombroso introduced a holy bible of sorts into the criminological world in that he contributed to the creation of scientific methodology in depend to the study of crime. Lombroso or so notably introduced a biological positivism into the study of crime.An atavistic Heredity (Lombroso 1911) in relation to the ca delectation of offending w here forcible features were viewed as licence of an innately unlawful nature in a kind of roughshod anthropology. His decease was t hen continued and expatiate by two other Italian scholars Ferri (1856-1929) and Garofalo (1852-1934) (Newburn 2007).Ferri and Garofalo elaborated on the environmental factors that evict correspondingwise proceeds whitlow behaviour in relation to positivist criminology. Positivism carries the main surmises that the methods of the natural sciences should and could be applied to the cordial world.Suggesting natural sciences should be used as the method base to analyse and preserve research in relation to policing and policing inventions. positively chargeds cogitate that research should consist of favorable knowledge and scientific knowledge by placard and scientific information. Facts essential be disjointed from values and usually, there is a taste for a use of quantitative info over qualitative (adapted from Bottoms 2000, cited in Newburn 2007). In 1913 Positivist theorist Charles Goring print a confine called The English Convict.This book logged the study he undertook which took place over 13 years, the study involved examining 3,000 British convicts against a controlled group of non-convict males to try and take note out if the wrong could be reason to a certain fictional character of psyche, no signifi suffert physical differences were found between the two groups. (Goring 1913) Critical of this study and convert that the criminal is organically inferior (Quoted in Brget et al 2004) Earnest Hooton conducted his own research into the criminal as a certain pillowcase of somebody and introduced Somatyping into positivist criminology.Somatyping involves the belief that development was dominated by superior types, arguing that a criminal had a certain type and evolution could eventually eradicate the criminal. Hooton was criticised for having poor data and an unrepresentative control group. However Hootons work then sparked this idea in the Positivist Criminology theorists as William Sheldon then looked into Somatypes further in 1 949 (Newburn 2007) and concluded that there were three types of carcass a person has Endomorph, Mesomorph and Ectomorph.These body types were essentially short and fat, Large and muscular and draw and fragile. Sheldon argued that each of these body types was related to feature personality traits and that all individualistics possessed alter traits even so certain traits were more predominate than others. In modern day policing and criminology we use a scheme called the labelling possibleness. This scheme was first put forward by Howard Becker in 1963, Becker claimed that criminal divisors argon associated with physical look and the criminal be happens a label disposed to a certain type of person.In 2011 it was commons belief that a criminal wore a certain type of clothing which was a hooded jacket or Hoodie. Articles were even published in the newspapers exchangeable the Guardian (Guardian 2011) under title The power of the Hoodie. Amplified by the media this find fault of clothing became an instant link to criminal behaviour and deviation. Positivist theory burn be connect in here with the labelling theory to assign the development in the idea of a Criminal type and show how in modern day policing we ar utilize these theories to determine and define the articulate criminal.Following the work of Emile Durkheim, Robert K Mertons Strain theory (1957) grass overly be link up into this concept as the positivist belief is that criminal behaviour can be encouraged by social physical and biological atoms, the descent theory thesis is that pressure from social surroundings can encourage an individual to establish crime. If an individual is singled out by Somatype or with labelling theory, they whitethorn feel social communication channel or view that they should become deviant which could actually pressure said individual into committing criminal acts.An example of where this kind of concept was familiar was when the London riots ha ppened in 2011. Classical criminology however argues against the concept of a criminal cosmos delineate by a certain type. Bentham stated that all person has free will and is able to take up a rational choice base on the situation they are in at the time and what they feel would be the appropriate action to take. classicalism disagrees with the positivist view of a criminal further world a certain type of person and believes that the criminal derives from within both person.Everybody has free will, and the major power to make an sure decision on their actions in any situation they may be in, thence believing that the criminal is an element every person has the possibility to exploit sort of of positivist theory of the criminal element being biologically woven into a persons DNA. classicalism had a major effect on the criminal jurist system and penology, punishments were believed to be shell given on account of the appropriateness of the crime in question. This idea be came the basis for our criminal justice systems today.With the inception of the classical school of criminology the use of swell punishment and torture was on the decline and in their place the introduction of prison house systems as core elements of the justice systems and punishment systems we have today.The abolishment of capital punishment has had an indescribably huge effect on our modern penal systems, the make are vast however intromit the introduction of fundamental law like the homosexual Rights work out (HRA 1998). Acts like this are incredibly important in criminal examinations and allow every person to have rights to things like the right to a middling trial and the right to prohibition of torture.Classical criminology influenced these modern day laws as its theorists believed in the concept that the punishment for crime should be establish on the scale of what has been done and should be appropriate to the crime itself. Classical Criminology has influenced the constructions of our prison systems as becoming the core element of the way we punish criminals instead of using in forgivinge methods through capital punishment by considering the scale of the crime and deciding on an appropriate sentence for the criminal.Here another(prenominal) theory can be looked at which has been shaped by the classicism theories and beliefs. This theory is the Rational Choice theory (Homas 1961). the theory is ground around the confidences that criminal occupation is pull by an individual after weighed up the risk and wages of an action, if the person believes that the reward is great than the risk they may be more likely to commit a crime than if the risk was greater than the reward. This theory is supportive of Benthams notes of free will and rational choice.Free will and rational choice can be used to athletic supporter explain the way we law through public order. In a public order policing situation, like a plain or a riot every person who atten ds and participates does so out of their own free will, a protester may not riot because they may believe that the risk of being arrested is greater than the reward of violently voicing their opinions.However positivism argues that a criminal is a definitive type of person and can be influenced by social physical or biological surroundings. These assumptions can be seen in the cases of debauchery and connection crime.The London riots happened in 2011 and they escalated throughout the country with riots disaster in places like Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester as well as other locations. The reasons that these sparked off is because of the social influence that was pressuring jr. hatful to join in, here the disturbed windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 82), labelling theory (Becker 1982), strain theory (Merton 1957) and rational choice theory (Homos 1961) can all be related through classicism and positivist views to our modern day policing methods.Broken windows theory states that a run wad or derelict area can encourage crime, this relates to the positivist assumption of criminal behaviour being encouraged by the physical surroundings and the evidence of this happening in the London Riots is when all the shops had been disquieted into and fires had been started. The streets were wrecked and this would have encouraged acts of violence.Mertons strain theory and Beckers labelling theory are in like manner applicable here as the social strain of most young youths committing the crime would encourage more young throng to commit crime, because the individuals could see crimes being committed around them without any action being interpreted, this would have further encouraged deviance as rational choice theory says the risk is lower than reward. These positivist based theories meant practice of law in the London riots and most public order situations would target younger individuals to try and find criminal body process and arrests.The classicalism side of influence on Public Order would then come after the arrest in trial where they would be questioned why they had committed these crimes out of their own free will and then put through the justice system, being sentenced on the classical assumption that the punishment should be appropriate to the crime committed. Positivist assumptions can similarly be linked into the concept of connection policing. Positivists believe that crime and criminal behaviour can be influenced through social and physical surroundings.Wilson and Kelling (1982) likewise believe this is the case as their broken windows theory looks at how the area a person lives in can touch their attitude towards crime and committing crime. Through the Classicism belief of community deterrence police force practices have been introduced to arm the police with powers that they can use to their advantage against the war on crime. The Police and Criminal establish act (1984) and The Police Reform Act (2002) has seen the introduction of new police powers and a new national policing plan.These police practices include powers like check into and search. Stop and search gives the cogency for any police constable to stop any citizen and search them if they believe they have reasonable grounds to do so. Classicism and Positivist theories have also had an effect on the way that we police our communities. PCSOs (police community support officers) were introduced in 2002 under the police reform act (2002) and help to break community relations with the police.This police practice supports the positivist beliefs that criminals can be influenced through social and physical surroundings as better relationships are built with the community and things like team projects are lay downd to repair derelict areas and social situations people may find themselves in by fling things like youth clubs and activities. This deters crime by drawing people away from unrighteousness and encouraging them to take part in c onstructive, positive activity.Theorist David Matza outlined that the positivist theory drew on three sets of gnarled assumptionsthe first being Differentiationthe assumption that offenders can be separated from non-offenders by definitive characteristics, the second being Determinism the assumption that biological, physiological or social factors take the criminal and criminal behaviour and the trine being Pathologythe assumption that an offender is an offender due to something going wrong in their lifetime (Tierney 1996).The problems of these views are that the fail to take into account the aspect of rationality, choice and human decision making. They define a criminal as a certain person, and if a person falls into the category of what has been defined by the positivist theory as a criminal it means that they must carry the traits of a criminal which is simply not true as prove by Charles Gorings work (1913). Classicism theory argues rational choice and free will, however wh at if a person has the impaired ability to make decisions and acts without being rational.Power and wealth is also a problem with the theory, if the classicism theory applied to all in the like sense then why is it that people who have less power and wealth tend to be the more rife resident of the criminal justice system and not the wealthy. there are other factors that both these theories have not taken into consideration throughout their thesis, they are also very much at confrontation ends of the scale.The positivist theory says that criminals are a type of person and the classicism theory says that a criminal offence can be committed by anybody as well all have free will and rational choice. Without the Classical school of Criminology and The positivist theorists vital procedure and acts would not have been put into place that are fundamental today for the way our society and criminal justice system operates. Classicism changed the way we sentence criminals and the construct of our prison systems which are of prestigious importance to the modern justice system.Positivist theory has influenced the way we police in terms of public order and community policing through the introduction of the Human Rights Act (1998), the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984) and the Police Reform Act (2002). These acts have allowed the modern day police to be able to take the best assumptions from the classicism theorists and the best assumptions from the positivists and use them to create a criminal justice system that incorporates the best of each theory into the police practices and concepts that are used from day to day in modern day policing.