Criminological Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Criminological Theory - Essay Example People consider them as the founding fathers of the classical theories because they are the ones who started enlightening the community on classical thinking. Their aim was to reduce the harshness experienced in the judicial systems during the eighteenth century. The classical theory bases its arguments on the principle of maximum pleasure and minimum pain (Gottfredson, 1990). Bentham is the main contributor to this school of thought, being a utilitarian he was interested in the well-being and happiness of the population. In classicism, punishment is for the good of the criminal. He believes that human behavior is aimed at minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure. Bentham as one of the founders of the classical theorists believes that, it is better to prevent a crime than to let a person commit a crime and then punish him. This theory advocates for a punishment that is equal to the crime committed. Classical thinking has a big impact in criminological thinking and a greater influence in criminal justice. In America and Europe, the idea of giving punishment depending on the nature of crime has created a foundation to the criminal justice systems in the modern society. Classical thinking has led to the decline of torture, use of capital punishment and corporal punishment (Baron, 2003). Over the years since the second half of eighteenth century and nineteenth century, prisons have developed, and the whole concept and idea of prison was to punish the soul and mind and not the body. This was very important in changing a person’s criminal behavior. One of the strengths of the classical theory is that, although it was developed long ago, it has continued to be used in the present judicial system (Baron, 2003). Deterrence as one of the elements in classical thinking helps in reducing crime rate. Classical thinking might be in great use today, but it also has its weaknesses and one of the weaknesses is that, in the