Outline the main problems with the biological approach to crime and Essay

Outline the main problems with the biological approach to crime and criminality - Essay Example (1) The main theme of Demonic perspective is that crime was caused largely by demonic influence. Although the â€Å"devil made me do it† is certainly an explanation of criminal behavior, it is not a scientific theory. Supernatural forces cannot be observed, and the demonic perspective (like our â€Å"little green creature† example) is therefore not testable. Toward the end of the 1700s, the demonic perspective was challenged by a group of philosophers who came to be called classical school criminologists. (1) Classical school believed that God instilled in humans the capacity to exercise free will and the ability to choose a course of behavior through reason. Several scholars — chief among them Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham — used this general platform to argue for legal reform. In doing so, these penal reformers also articulated a scientific Theory of criminal behavior. Classical school theory dominated criminological thought into the late 1800s, until it was challenged by a new group of theorists. The influence of the classical school of criminology began to wane in the late 1800s. One reason for this decline was that changes in the legal system based on classical theory failed to reduce crime (i.e., crime rates continued to increase).43 More importantly, the underlying assumption of the classical school—that behavior was the result of rational calculation — was criticized for being too simplistic. Throughout the 1700s, scientists such as Galileo and Newton made great discoveries about the workings of the physical world. These demonstrations of cause-and-effect relationships were made through careful observation and analysis of natural events. It was not long before scholars applied this scientific method beyond the physical world to the social world. Auguste Compte, the 19th century scientist considered the â€Å"father of sociology,† argued that human behavior was