MODULE I

Introduction to Criminology
By: Dean Bimboy C. Cueno, Crmgst., MSCJ

Criminology- it is the study regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes within its scope
the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and the reaction towards the breaking of laws (Sutherland
and Cressey). In its broadest meaning, it is the body of knowledge regarding crimes, criminals, and
the efforts of the society in suppressing and preventing them.

Principal Divisions of Criminology

1. Criminal Etiology – division of Criminology which studies the causes of crimes.

2. Sociology of Laws- scientific analysis of the conditions from which criminal laws are
developed.
3. Penology/Corrections- division of Criminology which scientifically analyze the correctional
methods, rehabilitation, and treatment of offenders.

Criminology studies the different factors that enhance the development of criminal behavior such
as:

a. Criminal Demography- study of the relationship between criminality and population.

b. Criminal Epidemiology- study of criminality in relation to spatial distribution in a
community.
c. Criminal Ecology- study of the relationship between environment and criminality.
d. Criminal Anthropology- study of criminality in relation to physical constitution of men.
e. Criminal psychology- study of human behavior in relation to criminality.
f. Criminal Psychiatry- study of mental and behavioral disorders in relation to criminality.
g. Victimology- study of the role of the victim in crime commission.

Major Areas of Study in Criminology

1. Criminal Sociology- includes Fundamentals of Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency, Human

Behavior and Crisis Management, Ethics and community relation, and criminal Justice
system. (15%)
2. Criminal Law and Jurisprudence- covers the study of the Revised Penal Code and its
amendments, and other laws that are penal in nature; criminal procedure, and the law on
evidence. (20%)
3. Law Enforcement Administration- embraces police organization, operational planning,
patrol, industrial security management, intelligence and secret service, police record and
personnel management. (20%)
4. Criminalsitics- covers the following areas; (20%)
a. Dactyloscopy- the science of fingerprinting.
b. Police photography- . It is the application of photography to certain phases of Police work.
It is an art or science which deals with the study of the principles of photography, the
reproduction of photographic evidence, and its application to police work.
c. Polygraphy- the science which deals with the study of detecting deception.
d. Forensic Ballistics- study of the investigation and identification of firearms by means of the
ammunitions fired from the submitted suspected firearms.
e. Questioned document examination- Forensic science discipline pertaining to documents
in dispute in a court of law.
f. Forensic medicine- application of medical science to elucidate legal problems.
 g. Forensic Chemistry- application of chemical principles in the solution of problems that
arise in connection with the administration of justice.
5. Crime Detection, Investigation and Prevention- consists of criminal investigation, arson
investigation, drug education and vice control, traffic management and accident
investigation, and police report writing. (15%)
6. Corrections- deals with the institutional and non institutional correction system of
approach. (10%)

Republic Act 6506- An Act creating the Board of Examiners for Criminologists in the Philippines.

Republic act no. 11131 – “The Philippine Criminology Profession Act of 2018. It is an act
regulating the practice of criminology profession in the Philippines, and appropriating funds
thereof, repealing for the purpose republic act no. 6506, otherwise known as “an act creating
the board of examiners for criminologists in the Philippines.

Registered Criminologist
Is any person who is a graduate of the Degree of Criminology who has passed the examination for
Criminologists and is registered as such by the Board.

Criminalist - a person who is trained in science of application of instruments and methods to the
detection of crime

Scope of Practice/Job Opportunities

1. Law Enforcement Administration – NBI, PNP up to the rank of Superintendent, Philippine

Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), BFP, Bureau of Correction (BUCOR), Bureau of Jail
Management and Penology (BJMP) up to the rank of Superintendent, Probation and Parole
Administration, Central Bank of the Philippines, Airport/Seaport Police, Armed Forces of
the Philippines, Bureau of Customs, etc.
2. Teaching profession as professor, instructor, or teacher in a University or College.
3. Technician/examiner in dactyloscopy, questioned document examination, lie detection,
firearms identification, forensic photography, etc.
4. Correctional administrator, executive supervisor, worker or officer in any correctional or
penal institution.
5. Counselor, expert, adviser, researcher in any government or private agency in aspects of
criminal research.
6. Private investigator, administrator, consultant, or agent or detective in any private security
and investigation agency.

Preference of Appointment in Government Criminal Justice and other Government Agencies

-Registered Criminologist shall enjoy priority of appointment and shall not be required to take any
qualifying or entrance examination in the NBI, PNP, BJMP, BFP, LTO, and other government
positions related to criminology, and the following bureaus and agencies of the government, the
Department of Justice, Philippine Ports Authority, Commission on Human Rights, COMELEC, Armed
Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Immigration, Department of transportation, Public Attorney`s
Office, PDEA, National Police Commission, etc.
Professional Regulatory Board for Criminologists
 -a collegial body under the administrative supervision and control of the Professional
Regulation Commission (PRC) to be composed of a Chairperson and four members appointed
by the President . Each will hold office for three years.
Salient Functions/Powers

1. To administer, supervise , and monitor the conduct of the licensure examination,

registration, membership in the Accredited Professional Organization (APO).
2. To receive complaints and decide the matter as to the malpractices and unethical conduct in
the practice of criminology profession.
3. To promulgate and issue rules and regulations.
4. To promulgate and adopt the Code of Ethics and Code of Good Governance for the practice
of criminology.
5. To prescribe and promulgate guidelines in the in the conduct of CPD in consultation with
the APO.
6. Issue/suspend, revoke, or reinstate the certificate of registration of the registered
criminologist.
7. To administer oaths.

Schools of Thought

1. Classical School

This school lays stress on the crime and not on the person or criminal offender. In this approach,
punishment which is retributive and punitive, is standardized and proportioned to the gravity and
nature of the offense. It assumes that every individual is rational, has free will and knows the law.
The general proposition of this school is to make undesirable acts painful by attaching punishment
to them and to make the amount of pain entirely different so that the prospective criminal could
make his calculation on it and make it just sufficient so that the pain would exceed the pleasure.
Imposition of punishment must be the same for all individuals regardless of age, mentality,
social status, and their personal conditions.

The proponents of Classical School were Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.
Cesare Beccaria- an Italian philosopher and politician best known for his “Essay on Crimes and

Punishment” treatise. He believed that the behavior of people with regards to their choice of action
is based on Hedonism humans beings choose those actions that give pleasure and avoid those that
brings pain.

Hedonism- every human action is motivated by the pursuit of pleasure (psychological hedonism)
or ought to be motivated by the pursuit of pleasure (moral hedonism).  (Note that moral hedonism
presumes that it is possible not to be motivated by the pursuit of pleasure, but that it is unwise to
do so.) (https://www.reddit.com).

Jeremy Bentham- an English jurist, philosopher, legal and social reformer. Like Beccaria, he was
concerned with achieving the greatest happiness of the greatest number. He referred to his
philosophy of social control as Utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism- the good is what produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest
number of people (including oneself), even if it causes unhappiness to oneself
(https://www.reddit.com).
 2. Neo-Classical School

It modifies the approach of the Classical School. It argues that since children and lunatics cannot
calculate pain and pleasure, they should not be regarded as criminals and as such they should
not be punished.

3. Positivist/Italian School

This school views crime as a social phenomenon and attaches importance to the criminal offenders.
The concept of guilt must be substituted with that of social behavior and like a sick person, the
criminal should be treated in a correctional institution. Criminal offenders should be considered
as part of and not apart from society.

It presumes that criminal behavior is caused by internal and external factors outside of the
individual`s control. It also argues that most serious crimes were committed by individuals who
were primitive or atavistic that is- who failed to evolve to a fully human and civilized state.

Auguste Comte-  was a French thinker known as the "father of sociology." He developed

a philosophy he called "Positivism," in which he described human society as having developed
through three stages, the third of which he called the "positive" stage, dominated by scientific
thought. He was the first to apply the scientific method to the social world, and coined the
term sociology to describe the scientific study of human society. It was his hope that through such
endeavors, an understanding of human society could be achieved that would enable humankind to
progress to a higher level, in which the entire human race could function together as one
(http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/)

The main exponents Positivists school were three eminent Italian criminologists namely: Cesare
Lombroso, Raffaele Garofalo and Enrico Ferri. It is for this reason that this school is also called
the Italian School of Criminology.

Cesare Lombroso -an Italian criminologist and physician, founder of the Italian School of Positivist

Criminology, often referred to as the father of criminology. Lombroso rejected the
established classical school, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature.
Instead, Lombroso's theory of anthropological criminology essentially stated that criminality
was inherited, and that someone "born criminal" could be identified by physical defects, which
confirmed a criminal as savage or atavistic (Wikepedia.com).

Categories of Criminals according to Lombroso

1. Atavism or Born Criminals- born distinct due to physical stigmata or anomalies such as
long jaw, flattened nose, bulging eyes, curly hair, etc.
2. Criminaloids- these are those who are not born with physical stigmata but who are of such
mental make-up that displays anti-social conduct.
3. Insane criminals- these are those who commit crimes due to abnormalities or
psychological disorders. This type is not a born criminal, they become criminal as a result of
some changes in their brains which interfere with their ability to distinguish between right
and wrong.

Enrico Ferri- a student of Lombroso and was known as his best associate. He investigated social
and economic factors and postulated on crime prevention methods. He stressed out that society
needed protection against criminals which can be achieved through criminal law and penal policy.
Raffaele Garofalo- An Italian jurist and a student of Lombroso. Influenced by the Lombroso`s
theory which he found to have many shortcomings, he traced the roots of criminal behavior not to
physical features but to their psychological equivalents which he called moral anomalies/moral
inferiorities. According to this theory, natural crimes are found in all human societies regardless of
the views of lawmakers, and no society can disregard that.

Other Proponents of Positivist/Italian School

William Sheldon- was an American psychologist and numismatist. He created the field

of somatotyping  that tried to correlate body types with behavior, intelligence and social
hierarchy illustrated by his Ivy League nude posture photos.

Body Type Physical Attributes Temperament

1. Ectomorph Small body, thin, droopy Cerebrotonic- full of complaints,

shoulders insomniac with chronic fatigue and
sensitive skin, nervous, self conscious,
introvert

2. Endomorph Round, fat, soft, round Viscerotonic- relaxed, jolly, lazy,

body comfortable, luxurious, extrovert

3. Mesomorph Muscular, athletic built Somotonic- active, dynamic, assertive,

aggressive, more prone to criminal activity
than ectomorphs and endomorphs

Types of Physique (Kretschmer)

a. Pyknic Type- round and fat bodies. They tend to commit fraud and deception.
b. Athletic Type- muscular body. Usually commit crimes of violence.
c. Asthenic Type- skinny and slender individual. Their crimes are petty theft.
d. Dysplastic or Mixed Type- unclear predominant type. Their offenses are against decency
and morality.

Charles Darwin- He is best known for his contributions to evolution theory. He concluded that
man developed from lower forms of life until he reached the highest stage of development.