Neoclassical Criminology

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Criminology has undergone various changes over the years in terms of ideas, concepts and theories. Before the ideas of early and modern criminology, crime was explained by Moralism, or the idea that criminal behavior was caused by evil spirits, sin or the devil(1). Thankfully, these ideas soon fell out of favor in the age of enlightenment and gave way to classical theories of criminal behavior. While early criminology was based off of classical, biological and psychological theories, modern criminology is not much different as many of these theories simply evolved. Modern criminology is still composed of psychological and biological theories, and classical theories simply evolved into neoclassical theories. These theories, both modern …show more content…

Concepts of Neoclassical criminology include the just deserts model, routine activities theory, capable guardians, situational crime prevention, target hardening, determinate sentencing, and both specific and general deterrence. While punishment is a central feature of both classical and neoclassical thought, neoclassical thinking is expanded to support the ancient concept of retribution (4). According to modern neoclassical thinkers, if a person commits a crime then he or she deserves to be punished. Modern biological theories try to explain crime causation through genetics and heritability just as early biological theories attempted to do. Contemporary biological theories stress the interaction between biological influences and the surrounding social and physical environments. Modern biological theories also include brain dysfunction theories, body chemistry theories, hormonal theories and biosocial criminology. Contemporary psychological theories have evolved to include the modeling theory, behavior theory and cognitive theory, as well as the concepts of psychoanalytic criminology. Modern psychological theories have greatly influenced how the criminal justice system treats people suffering from psychological problems. Today, criminals can be acquitted from their crimes by reason of insanity, as was seen in the case of Andrea Yates in the murder of her five children in 2001

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