THE WEST BENGAL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES

CRIMINOLOGY PROJECT
The Contribution of Positivism in Criminology

Submitted By:
Susanah Naushad 209025 4th year

Introduction and Overview

Positivist criminology emerged in the 19th century in Europe and marked a clear shift in the academic thinking relating to crimes.1 Prior to this, classical criminology dominated the scene. According to the Classical School of criminology (led by Beccaria, Bentham and Romily), crimes are committed after people freely consider the realistic costs and benefits of their actions, and then act accordingly 2 , whereas the positive school presumes no role or free will in the actions of people. It says that the behavior of people is determined by other facts like poverty, unemployment, low intelligence etc.3 Craniometry and Phrenology, which are one of the earliest positive theories, laid emphasis on the size and shape of the skull and brain, to determine the reason for commission of crimes.4 It is divided into Biological, Psychological and Social.

Biological Positivism
Lombrosos Theory of Atavism Cesare Lombroso, a positive criminologist, was highly influenced by the work of Charles Darwin. Beyond being considered the father of criminology, Lombroso is also considered the father of Positive School of criminology because he was the first to gain prominence in identifying factors beyond free will or free choice, which the Classical school said were the sole cause of crime.5 The first edition of his work The Criminal Man was published in 1876 and immediately created ripples in the western society by shaping popular opinion about both criminals and justice.6 He laid down his theory of Atavism and said that some people are born criminals. 7 Atavism or Atavistic means that a person or feature of and individual are a throwback to an earlier stage of evolutionary development. 8 According to him, these born criminals were evolutionary
1 2

(Roshier 1989) Stephen G. Tibbets, Criminological Theory: The Essentials 81, (2012) 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Crime, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/40397_3.pdf 7 Rafter, Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Criminology, http://www.farum.it/publifarumv/n/01/pdf/Rafter.pdf 8 Supra, Note 5

throwbacks with lesser overall development as compared to other people and that they could be distinguished by their physical features called stigmata. Stigmata consisted of bodily features that deviated from the norm. In other words, abnormally small or large noses, abnormally small or large ears, abnormally small or large eyes, abnormally small or large jaws, family epilepsy or tattoos- almost anything that went outside the bell curve on normal human development. 9 Lombroso stated that people five or more of these physical features were born criminals. 10 Furthermore, he claimed that born criminals couldnt be stopped from their tendencies to be antisocial.11 It was Lombrosos belief that born criminals could be stopped, or at least partially deterred by society. 12 Societies would identify born criminals, at early stages of their lives, through their stigmata and then deter them from committing crimes. 13Lombroso opined that although there were lesser type of offenders too who committed minor crimes (such as the mentally ill and crimnaloids), the focus should remain on eliminating born criminals as they were the most serious and violent criminals in any society.14 His work led to various policy formulations that shaped societal belief at that time such as fascism. Later in his career Lombroso modified his beliefs and admitted Atavism only accounted for 1/3rd of the criminal population and that factors other than biology could be involved in producing criminality.15 Others: Modern studies in the 1900s created a link between low verbal IQ and criminality, even within a given a race, social class, or gender. Charles Goring opined that criminals were lighter, shorter and less intelligent, however was not able to corroborate the same. Another criminologist, William Sheldon, identified three basic body or somatotypes- endomorphs, mesomorphs and ectomorphs - and concluded that criminals tended to mesomorphy. Sheldon found that an athletic or muscular build (i.e. mesomorphy) is linked to an aggressive, risk taking personality, which in turn is associated with higher levels of crime. 16 Despite the methodological problems with Sheldons body type theory, his theory became widely popular and different perspectives of the same are carved out by scholars till date.

Psychological positivism
9

The Positive School : Biological and Psychological Factors, http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/week4.htm 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Supra Note 1, 9 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid.

When we talk of Psychological Positivism, the assumption is, violence and criminal behavior are mental illnesses. Such illnesses vary from criminal to criminal so the modality of treatment/counseling needs to be framed accordingly. Sigmund Freud stated that criminal behavior is an outcome of a mental illness or a weak conscience. He divided the human personality into several parts- ego, superego, memory, perception etc. 17 On the other hand, another criminologist, John Bowlby gave a theory that linked criminal tendencies to maternal deprivation.18 Hans Eysenck opined that certain people are more prone to be anti-social or have criminal tendencies. He proposed a model of personality based on just three universal traits: introversion/extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.19

INTROVERSION - EXTRAVERSION

Introversion: tender mindedness; introspectiveness; seriousness; performance interfered with by excitement; easily aroused but restrained; inhibited; preference for solitary vocations; sensitivity for pain

Extraversion: tough mindedness; impulsiveness; tendency to be outgoing; desire for novelty; performance enhanced by excitement; preference for vocations involving contact with other people; tolerance for pain.

NEUROTICISM Below-average emotional control, will-power, capacity to exert self; slowness in thought and action; suggestibility; lack of persistence; tendency to repress unpleasant facts; lack of sociability; below average sensory acuity but high level of activation PSYCHOTICISM Poor concentration; poor memory; insensitivity; lack of caring for others; cruelty; disregard for danger and convention; occasionally originality and/or creativity; liking for unusual things; considered peculiar by others
17 18

Ian Marsh, Theories of Crime, 67 (2006) J Bowlby, Maternal Care and Mental Health 203 (1951) 19 William H. Honan, Hans J. Eysenck- A Heretic in the Field of Psychotherapy, http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/10/world/hans-j-eysenck-81-a-heretic-in-the-field-ofpsychotherapy.html?pagewanted=1

He said that every persons personality is mix of these three dimensions, and the dominance of any one of these traits in a person determines how a person will address a specific situation. However, scholars say that a major drawback of his personality test is that he focused on too few traits.

Social positivism

The idea of social positivism, as explained by Durkheim, seems to integrate two opposing core sociological theories - conflict theory and functionalism. Durkheims social positivism stated: 1. Crime is part of human nature; 2. Crime is normal; 3. The inevitability of crime is linked to the differences (heterogeneity) within society; 4. Crime can be useful and occasionally healthful for society because it paves the way for social change and that the social structure is not rigid or inflexible; 5. Crime calls attention to social ills, therefore rising crime rates signal a need for social change and promotes programs designed to relieve human suffering. This branch of school identifies "society" as the cause for criminal behavior. Durkheim identified society as a social phenomenon, external to individuals, with crime being a normal part of a healthy society. Deviancy was nothing more than "boundary setting," pushing to determine the current limits of morality and acceptability. There are many other theories in this school, namely Thrashers Theory of Gangs, Strain/Anomie Theory, Cultural Deviance Theories etc. that seek to identify positive causes that determined the propensity for criminal behaviour.

Conclusion
The greatest contribution of Positive School is that the criminal man must be studied and not simply crime in the abstract; that the criminal must be treated as an individual and not his act alone considered. Conclusively, positivism is able to narrowly explain why people commit crime; evidence shown suggests that there are identifiable traits that lead to criminality such as

personality, biology, or social location. Positivism, however, cannot be seen as an objective area of research. It can (loosely) explain how ones personality might lead them to commit a crime, but it can not explain why certain actions are a crime in the first place, and it does not consider that those convicted of crimes are subjected to wider processing than just personality, biology, genetics, social location or subjective notions of social disorganization.

Bibliography
Stephen G. Tibbets, Criminological Theory: The Essentials (2012) Katherine S. Williams, Textbook on Criminology, 4th ed. (2001)

Prof. N.V. Paranjape, Criminology and Penology, 11th ed. (2004) Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Robert Reiner, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (2007)