3. Paradigms and Theoretical Framework of the Research
3.4. The Classical School of Criminology
Cesare Bonesana Marchese de Beccaria (1738- 1794), was an Italian mathematician and economist who was identified as the father of the Classical School of Criminology. According to Monachesi (1973) in Lilly et al (1989), Beccaria lived in a time where people were treated in a cruel manner
50 and criminals even worse, this prompted him to anonymously, due to fear of political reprisal and prosecution, publish his views on penal reform in the form of a book in 1764. By 1767, the book titled “on crimes and punishment”, that Beccaria, anonymously, published was translated into English and its publication was welcomed throughout Europe (Lilly et al, 1989).
According to Radzinowicz (1966) and Vold (1958) in Lilly et al (1989), Beccaria’s argument, in on crimes and punishment, can be summarized as “First, in order to escape war and chaos, individuals gave up some of their liberty and established a contractual society. This established the sovereignty of a nation and the ability of a nation to create criminal law and to punish offenders. Second, because criminal laws placed restrictions on individual freedoms, they should be restricted in scope. They should not be employed to enforce moral virtue. To prohibit human behavior unnecessarily was to increase rather than decrease crime. Third, the presumption of innocence should be the guiding principle in the administration of justice, and at all stages of the justice process the rights of all parties involved should be protected. Fourth, the complete criminal law code should be written and define all offences and punishments in advance. This would allow the public to judge how and if their liberties were being preserved. Fifth, punishment should be based on retributive reasoning because the guilty had attacked another individual’s rights. Sixth, the severity of the punishment should be limited and it should not go beyond what is necessary for crime prevention and deterrence. Seventh, criminal punishment should correspond with the seriousness of the crime; the punishment should fit the crime, not the criminal. Fines, for example, would be appropriate for simple thefts, while the harsher sanctions of corporal punishment and labor would be acceptable for violent crimes. Eight, punishment must be a certainty and inflicted quickly. Ninth, punishment should not be administered to set an example; neither should it be concerned with reforming the offender. Tenth, the offender should be viewed as an independent and reasonable person who weighed the consequences of the crime. Offenders should be assumed to have the same power of resistance as non- offenders. Eleventh, for Beccaria, the aim of every good system of legislation was the prevention of crime. He reasoned it was better to prevent crimes than to punish them” (Lilly et al, 1989, pp. 12- 15).
The Classical School of Criminology can be summarized as, according to Tibbetts (2012), “the classical school of criminology theory is a perspective that is considered the first rational model of crime, one that was based on logic rather than supernatural or demonic factors; it assumes that
51 crime occurs after a rational individual mentally weighs the potential good and bad consequences of crime and then makes a decision about whether to engage in a given behaviour; this model is directly tied to the formation of deterrence theory and assumes that people have free will to control their behaviour ” (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 236).
Human beings are rational beings, they tend to want to seek pleasure and avoid pain whenever possible because pleasure is good, and it gives a person a pleasant feeling of joy and satisfaction, whereas, on the other hand, pain and punishment is uncomfortable and brings feeling of misery, sadness, anger and negativity. (Bezuidenhout & Little, 2011). Therefore, if committing a crime is beneficial to an individual, they will go ahead and commit the crime with the hope of not being apprehended and punished at a later stage. However, if an individual believes, after carefully weighing his or her options, that there is a very high possibility that he or she will be apprehended and punished for committing a crime, he or she will not go ahead and commit a crime.
With regards to the classical school of criminology and forensic laboratories in South Africa, the presence and efficient work of forensic laboratories could deter individuals from committing crime in the future. If the work of forensic laboratories is completed sooner than it is at the current rate, results will be obtained sooner, resulting in cases being concluded faster and punishment being meted out to offenders sooner than the rate it currently is. People will rethink committing crime as they will fear the possibility of being apprehended and punished sooner than is currently taking place.
An increase in the efficiency of the work of forensic laboratories in South Africa can be obtained by an increasing the number of forensic laboratories that perform tests and analysis of evidence from crime scenes. Another suggestion to improve the situation could be to employ more qualified and properly trained staff as well as send existing staff for training and refresher courses. An increase in the number of people that are employed, overall, will also, possibly, assist in reducing the number of incidents of crime as many people resort to committing crime due to the fact that they are unemployed and still have to take care of their personal needs as well as the needs and demands of their families. When word travels that competent staff are conducting tests in forensic laboratories, this will serve as aa further deterrent to people who may be considering wanting to commit a crime of any sort. They will be deterred by the fact that they may be apprehended and punished, and punishment is what people will tend to want to avoid at all cost.
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