Classical School - Commentary

Commentary

The idea of man as a calculating animal requires the view of crime as a product of a free choice by offenders. The question for policy makers is therefore how to use the institutions of the state to influence citizens to choose not to offend. This theory emerged at the time of the Enlightenment and it contended that it should focus on rationality. But, because it lacks sophistication, it was operationalised in a mechanical way, assuming that there is a mathematics of deterrence, i.e. a proportional calculation undertaken first by policy makers and then by potential offenders. This School believed that there are constants of value in pain and gain that can swing a decision to offend or not to offend. But not everyone is the same nor has the same view of what constitutes a price worth paying. It also had a certain utopianism in assuming that the policing system could rapidly grow and deliver a better service of investigation and detection. If certainty of punishment is to be achieved, there must be a major investment in policing.

As other Schools of thought developed, Classicism slowly grew less popular. But it has seen revival through the Neo-Classical School and the theories of Right Realism such as the Rational Choice Theory.