On top of the issue of ‘free will’ which prosecutors are still proving against defendants in courts today, the classical school acknowledged how punishments that crime delivers deter people from undertaking criminal behaviour. We only have to look a country like Bali and their drug trafficking laws to understand how punishment is imperative in controlling behaviour. The harsher the punishment, the less likely people are to commit the crime, so the boundaries that are set by the law are not continuously broken.
However, the classical school firmly pressed in regards to punishment and deterrence, that equality and fairness was always delivered. If the punishment did not fit the crime or a male was convicted for longer than a female because of their gender, then the legal frameworks were clearly unjust. In today’s courts, due process follows on from the classical school in the fact that fairness and equality are preceded.
It is widely considered by many sociologists that positivist criminology helped demonstrate to society and the courts that criminal offenders deserved a chance to be rehabilitated because of psychological, social and biological factors that affected their decision making and actions. This thought of determinism continues to influence the principles and practices of sentencing today, as we see in many cases criminal defences surrounded around psychological evaluations that attempt to prove an individual’s lack of control was due to reasons outside of their power. This helps highlight another significant difference between the two schools of thought as classicism pushes for a definite sentence to a crime while as just explained positivism pushes for an indefinite sentence looking to reform the individual rather than push only for deterrence.
Interestingly when analysing both school of thoughts it is important to note that both forms of criminology primarily focus on the offender not the victim (Sullivan and Tifft p.440).
Overall, it is clearly evident how crucial both classical and positivist criminology have been to the courts and their sentencing procedures. Without their influences, many forms of justice would be incoherent in the courts, for example punishments delivered by the courts could outweigh the crime committed and those that unfortunately suffer from psychological and biological disorders would be convicted without protest.
Bibliography
Hughes, G & Muncie, J & McLaughlin E (2008), ‘Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings’, Sage Publications, London.
Pond, R (1999), ‘Introduction to Criminology’, Waterside Press.
Sullivan, D & Tifft L (2006), ‘Handbook of restorative justice: a global perspective’, Routledge, London & New York.
