Compare And Contrast The Classical School Of Criminology

The classical school of criminology which was originally developed in the eighteenth century still has power in the crime prevention which is utilized in our criminal justice system in the United States today (Siegel, 2011). In fact, utilizing the very principles of the classical school of criminology lays the groundwork, in some ways, to how we prevent crime today. The components of the classical school of criminology are that people have free will, crime can be attractive, crime can possibly be controlled when there is a fear of punishment, and that punishment which is “severe, certain, and swift” will deter criminal behavior more than punishment which is not (Siegel, 2011, p. 9, para. 1). The specific deterrence basically states that

The groundwork of how the criminal justice system is laid today, despite some major tweaks and changes along the way, still has remnants of the classical school of criminology. With people having free will, an attraction to crime, the ability to possibly lower crime through fear of reprimand or punishment, and knowing that crime must be severe, certain, and swift, the components of the classical school of criminology are very helpful and powerful (Siegel, 2011, p. 9, para. 1). Specific deterrence is a great tool to use to show the criminal just how severe a punishment can be (Siegel, 2011, p. 100, para. 1). General deterrence, on the other hand, shows all criminals a perception of the real threat of punishment (Siegel, 2011, p. 95, para. 10). Criminals attract criminals, and criminals also have access to media outlets, so they have ample opportunities to see the results and hear about the results of being caught for crimes. However, the legal and judicial systems have a moral responsibility to make sure criminals see that crimes get harsh punishments. All of society, a person’s parents or guardians, and the media have to make sure the punishments for particular crimes are well known to avoid their respective audiences from making the same mistakes. The rational choice theory is an excellent method to use, provided ample material is given to a criminal to see that crime simply does not