The Schools of Criminology

In this article, we shall enumerate different schools of criminology and study pre-classical school or demonological school. Remaining schools of criminology will be discussed in subsequent articles.

There are countless theories but they can be clearly classified into two groups: Scientific Theories which are considered “true” or “facts” because they have been found experimentally to work and we know why they work, and Un-scientific Theories which are not experimentally tested.

a scientific theory is defined as a hypothesis or a group of hypotheses about some phenomena that have been supported through research using the scientific method. A hypothesis is basically an educated guess.

Scientific facts are measured and/or observed. For example, anything released from a height falls back on the earth. This is a scientific fact because it can be observed and has the same effect in each case. The scientific facts never change. Newton studied this phenomenon using a hypothesis and put forward the theory of gravitation, which is a scientific theory. Thus a scientific theory is an interpretation of facts. Different scientists may have different interpretations depending upon the hypothesis used by them. A scientific theory can be changed and rejected over time.

Characteristics of Scientific Theory:

• Based on Facts: It should be based on verifiable observations supported by facts and figures through experiments and observations.
• Testable: Scientific theories should be such that they can be proved experimentally or theoretically using existing proved theories.
• Replicable: Theories should be replicable by anyone and at any place.
• Stable and consistent: The theory and corresponding experiments should give the same and precise results every time.
• Definite Relations: A scientific theory should be able to define the causal relationship between the variables instead of casual connection.

Unscientific Nature of Theological Theory of Crime:

The main points of Theological theory of crime are:

• Law is given by God to define sin and crime.
• Man commits a crime because of his fallen nature.
• God ordains government to deter and/or punish criminals.
• God offers salvation. Those who accept are changed and are no longer in obligation to their fallen nature.

If we try to apply the characteristics of scientific theory, we can observe that they are not applicable to unscientific theory. This theory changes depending upon time, place, religion, values of society, degree of tolerance, etc. Similarly, the demonological theory was considered unscientific.

The Schools of Criminology:

As civilization advances, the nature and variety of crime undergo change. We have numerous theories regarding crime, each reflecting a particular stage of development of civilization and a particular point of view. Criminology and penology are branches of social science. Various scholars have attempted to explain the causation of crime and criminal behavior.  Each school of criminology explains crime in its own manner and suggests punishment and measures suit its ideology.  Each school represents the social attitude of people towards crime in a given time. As it is a science, no theory is free from drawbacks and criticisms. 

The main schools of criminology are:

• Pre-classical or Demonological School
• Free- will School
• Classical School
• Ecological School
• Geographical School
• Typological School
• The Socialistic School
• The Sociological School

Pre-classical or Demonological School:

The p[erio of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe was dominated by the scholasticism of Saint Thomas Acquinas (1225-1274). Scholastic means the system of theology and philosophy taught in medieval European universities, based on Aristotelian logic and the writings of the early Christian Fathers and emphasizing tradition and dogma. During this period, Europe was characterized by a dominance of religion in-state activities.  The concept of scientific thinking was at an early stage. The concept of crime was vague and obscure. Criminal justice was based on the doctrine of demonological school. Demonological School is the most ancient theory of crime. According to this theory, a man by nature is simple and a crime committed by the man is a handiwork of the devil. They believed that there are two kinds of forces in the world: Gods and Satanic forces. God’s force keeps us away from crime and helps us to do good deeds, whereas the devil force distracts man from the right path and makes him commit a crime. It makes man reckless, loses the sense of morality and removes the fear of God from the individual. Such a person becomes unable to foresee the consequences of his actions.

Thus according to this theory, the offender commits a wrongful act not because of his own free will but due to the influence of some external superpower. The offender was regarded as an innately depraved person who could be cured only by torture and pain. The medieval trial by ordeal was a harsh method that relied on divine intervention to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. The trial by ordeal is defined by its appeal to supernatural forces to determine guilt or innocence. The trials were overseen by members of the clergy who oversaw the test conditions and determined the guilt or innocence of the accused in a manner prescribed by the Catholic Church. Though the trial by ordeal was forbidden by Pope Innocent III in 1215 (thirteenth century), its prevalence in Europe continued to be wide enough that it even came over to colonial America. Other trials by ordeal were also found throughout India, Southeast Asia, and in many parts of Africa. 

The chief objective behind the infliction of punishment under this school was to drive away the Demon from the soul. For this whipping was the most common form of penalty. Other punishment inflicted were tender organs of the body were exposed to cruel treatment, burning, laceration and maceration. Trial by ordeal included ordeal by hot water, ordeal by hot oil, ordeal by cold water, ordeal by a hot iron rod, ordeal by a snake and the ordeal by the sacrament. This approach was unscientific, irrational and cruel.

Though the system of punishment appears to be most irrational and barbaric in today’s modern world it was accepted in that period. It was completely ignored by Roman and forbidden in Islam. This system fell into disuse in India, with the advent of British rule in India and subsequent rationalization of the penal laws.

In the next article, we shall study the classical school of criminology.