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SOCIOLOGY OF CRIMES, ETHICS AND HUMAN RELATIONS

CRIM. 1: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIMES

CRIMINOLOGY
- according to Edwin H. Sutherland, “criminology is the entire body of knowledge regarding crime as
a social phenomenon. It includes within its scope the process of making of laws, of breaking of
laws, and the society’s reaction towards the breaking of laws.”
- Criminology is a body of knowledge regarding crimes, criminals and the efforts of society to prevent
and repress them.
- the scientific study of the causes of crime in relation to man and society who set and define rules
and regulations for himself and others to govern

Criminologist (R.A. 11131)


- natural person who holds a valid certificate of registration and an updated professional identification
card as criminologist issued by the professional board for criminologist and the Professional
Regulation Commission (PRC).

Origin of the word “Criminology”


Etymologically, the term criminology came from the Latin word “crimen” meaning crime and Greek word
“Logos” which means “to study”.
In 1885, Rafael Garofalo, an Italian Law Professor coined the term criminologia.
In 1889, Paul Topinard, French Anthropologist, used the term criminology in French criminologie for
the first time

Principal Divisions of Criminology


1. Etiology of Crimes – the scientific analysis of the causes of crimes and the criminal behavior.
2. Sociology of Law – refers to the investigation of the nature of criminal law and its administration
3. Penology – the study of the control of crimes and the rehabilitation of offender

Is criminology a science?
According to George Wilker, criminology cannot become a science because it has not yet acquired
universal validity. Edwin H. Sutherland, the Dean of Modern Criminology, hoped that it will become a science
in the future since the causes of crimes are almost the same which may be biological, environmental or
combination of the two.

Nature of Criminology
1. It is applied science because criminology as a body of knowledge has already established universally
accepted principles and concepts and these are used by other field of study. (INSTRUMENTATION)
2. It is a social science because it studies crime as a social phenomenon. Crime is a social problem which
has a great impact to society.
3. It is dynamic because the concepts of criminology and their applications adapt to the changing time.
4. It is nationalistic because the study of criminology takes into consideration the history, the culture and
the social norms and the laws of the country. Each country has its own set of laws and crimes are
defined by the laws of the country.

Scope in the Study of Criminology


1. Study of the origin and development of criminal law
2. Study of the causes of crimes and development of criminals
3. Study of the other sciences that examine criminal behavior using scientific methods such as:
a) criminal demography – the study of the relationship between criminality and population
b) criminal epidiomology – the study of the relationship between environment and criminality
c) criminal ecology – the study of criminality in relation to the spatial distribution in a community
d) criminal physical anthropology – the study of criminality in relation to physical constitution of
men
e) criminal psychology – the study of human behavior in relation to criminality
f) criminal psychiatry – the study of human mind in relation to criminality
g) victimology – the study of the role of the victim in the commission of a crime

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGY


School of Thought – refers to a group of beliefs or ideas that support a specific theory.

Theory – set of statements devised to explain behavior, events or phenomenon, especially one that has
been repeatedly tested and widely accepted.

1. DEMONOLOGICAL THEORY - asserts that a person commits wrongful acts due to the fact that he
was possessed by demons.

2. CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY


The classical school of criminology grew out of a reaction against the barbaric system of law, punishment
and justice that existed. There was no real system of criminal justice in Europe at that time. Some crimes
were specified, some were not. Judges had discretionary power to convict a person for an act not even legally
defined as criminal.
This school of thought is based on the assumption that individuals choose to commit crimes after
weighing the consequences of their actions. According to classical criminologists, individuals have free will.
They can choose legal or illegal means to get what they want, fear of punishment can deter them from
committing crime and society can control behavior by making the pain of punishment greater than the pleasure
of the criminal gains.
This theory, however, does not give any distinction between an adult and a minor or a mentally-
handicapped in as far as free will is concerned. Founders of classical school of criminology are Cesare
Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

Cesare Beccaria (Cesare Bonesana Marchese di Beccaria) (1738-1794)


- best known for his essay, “On Crimes and Punishment” which presented key ideas on the abolition
of torture as legitimate means of extracting confession.
- His book contains almost all modern penal reforms but its greatest contribution was the foundation
it laid for subsequent changes in criminal legislation
- his book was influential in the reforms of penal code in France, Russia, Prussia and it influenced the
first ten amendments to the US Constitution

Beccaria believed that:


a. people want to achieve pleasure and avoid pain.
b. Crime provides some pleasure to the criminal.
c. To deter crime, he believed that one must administer pain in an appropriate amount to
counterbalance the pleasure obtain from crime.
d. Famous in sayings “ Let the punishment fit the crime”

HIGHLIGHTS OF CESARE BECCARIA’S IDEAS REGARDING CRIMES AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM
1. In forming a human society, men and women sacrifice a portion of their libery so as to enjoy peace and
security.
2. Punishments that go beyond the need of preserving the public safety are in their nature unjust.
3. Criminal laws must be clear and certain. Judges must make uniform judgments in similar crimes.
4. The law must specify the degree of evidence that will justify the detention of an accused offender prior
to his trial.
5. Accusations must be public. False accusations should be severely punished.
6. To torture accused offenders to obtain a confession is inadmissible.
7. The promptitude of punishment is one of the most effective curbs on crime.
8. The aim of punishment can only be to prevent the criminal from committing new crimes against his
countrymen, and to keep others from doing likewise. Punishments, therefore, and the method of
inflicting them, should be chosen in due proportion to the crime, so as to make the most lasting
impression on the minds of men…
9. Capital punishment is inefficacious and its place should be substituted life imprisonment.
10. It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. That is the chief purpose of all good legislation.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
- his contribution to classical school of criminology is the concept of utilitarianism and the felicific
calculus.
- proposed “Utilitarian Hedonism” which explains that person always acts in such a way to seek
pleasure and avoid pain.
- founded the concept of UTILITARIANISM – assumes that all our actions are calculated in
accordance with their likelihood of bringing pleasure and pain
- devised the pseudo-mathematical formula called “felicific calculus” which states that individuals are
human calculators who put all the factors into an equation in order to decide whether a particular
crime is worth committing or not
- he reasoned that in order to deter individuals from committing crimes, the punishment, or pain, must
be greater than the satisfaction, or pleasure, he would gain from committing the crime

Utilitarianism
– is a philosophy which argues that what is right is the one that would cause the greatest good for the
greatest number of people.
- others refer to it as the greatest happiness principle or the principle of utility.
- from this principle, Bentham formulated the “felicific calculus”.

Felicific Calculus or the pleasure-and-pain principle – is a theory that proposes that individuals calculate the
consequences of his actions by weighing the pleasure (gain) and the pain (suffering) he would derive from
doing the action.

3. NEOCLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY
This theory modified the doctrine of free will by stating that free will of men may be affected by
other factors and crime is committed due to some compelling reasons that prevail. These causes are
pathology, incompetence, insanity or any condition that will make it impossible for the individual to
exercise free will entirely. In the study of legal provisions, this is termed as either mitigating or
exempting circumstances.

4. POSITIVIST SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY


- The term “positivism”, refers to a method of analysis based on the collection of observable scientific
facts.
- Positivists believe that causes of behavior can be measured and observed.
- It demands for facts and scientific proof, thus, changing the study of crimes and criminals into
scientific approach.
- Positive theorists were the first to claim the importance of looking at individual difference among
criminals. These theorists who concentrated on the individual structures of a person, stated that
people are passive and controlled, whose behaviors are imposed upon them by biological and
environmental factors.

August Comte
- was a French philosopher and sociologist and is believed to be the one who reinvented the French
term sociologie.
- he was recognized as the “Father of Sociology and Positivism”.
- followers of comte are called positivist

THE (UN) HOLY THREE (3) OF CRIMINOLOGY


1. Cesare Lombroso
2. Enricco Ferri
3. Raffaelle Garofalo

Cesare Lombroso
- recognized as the “Father of Modern and Empirical Criminology” due to his application of modern
scientific methods to trace criminal behavior, however, most of his ideas are now discredited
- known for the concept of atavistic stigmata (the physical features of creatures at an earlier stage of
development).
- he claimed that criminals are distinguishable from non-criminals due to the presence of atavistic
stigmata and crimes committed by those who are born with certain recognizable heredity traits.
- according to his theory, criminals are usually in possession of huge jaws and strong canine teeth, the
arm span of criminals is often greater than their height, just like that of apes who use their forearms to
push themselves along the ground.

- other physical stigmata include deviation in head size and shape, asymmetry of the face, excessive
dimensions of the jaw and cheekbones, eye defects and peculiarities, ears of unusual size, nose
twisted, upturned or flattened in thieves, or aquiline or beaklike in murderers, fleshy lips, swollen and
protruding, and pouches in the cheek like those of animal’s toes

- Lombroso’s work supported the idea that the criminal was a biologically and physically inferior person

- according to him, there are three (3) classes of criminals:


a. born criminals – individuals with at least five (5) atavistic stigmata
b. insane criminals – those who became criminals because of some brain defect which affected
their ability to understand and differentiate what is right from what is wrong.
c. criminaloids - those with makeup of an ambiguous group that includes habitual criminals,
criminals by passion and other diverse types

Enricco Ferri
- he focused his study on the influences of psychological factors and sociological factors such as
economics, on crimes.
- He believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did not choose to
commit crimes, but rather were driven to commit crimes by conditions in their lives.

Raffaelle Garofallo
- He treated the roots of the criminals’ behavior not to physical features but to their psychology
equivalent, which he referred to as moral anomalies.
- He rejected the doctrine of freewill.
- Classified criminals as Murderers, Violent Criminals, Deficient Criminals, and Lascivious Criminals.

THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

1. BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- this refers to the set of theories that point to physical, physiological and other natural factors as the
causes for the commission of crimes of certain individuals.
- This explanation for the existence of criminal traits associates an individual’s evil disposition to
physical disfigurement or impairment.

a. Physiognomy – the study of facial features and their relation to human behavior.

1. Giambiatista dela Porta


- founder of human physiognomy
- according to him criminal behavior may be predicted based on facial features of the person.
2. Johann Kaspar Lavater
- supported the belief of dela Porta
- he believed that a person’s character is revealed through his facial characteristics.

b. Phrenology, Craniology or Cranioscopy – the study of the external formation of the skull in
relation to the person’s personality and tendencies toward criminal behavior.

1. Franz Joseph Gall


- he developed cranioscopy which was later renamed as phrenology.

2. Johann Kaspar Spurzheim


- assistant of Gall in the study of phrenology.
- he was the man most responsible for popularizing and spreading phrenology to a wide
audience

c. Physiology or Somatotype – refers to the study of body build of a person in relation to his
temperament and personality and the type of offense he is most prone to commit.

1. Ernst Kretschmer
- he distinguished three (3) principal types of physiques: asthenic, athletic, pyknik and
dysplastic.
a. asthenic – characterized as thin, small and weak.
b. athletic – muscular and strong.
c. pyknic – stout, round and fat.
d. dysplastic – combination of two body types

2. William Herbert Sheldon


- formulated his own group of somatotype: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph.
a. ectomorph – tall and thin and less social and more intellectual than the other types.
b. mesomorph – have well-developed muscles and an athletic appearance.
c. endomorph – heavy builds and slow moving.

d. Heredity – the transmission of traits from parents to offspring.

1. Richard Louis Dugdale


- conducted a study of the Jukes family by researching their family tree as far back 200 years.
He discovered that most of the ascendants of the Jukes were criminals.

2. Henry Goddard
- he traced the descendants of the Martin Kallikak from each of his two wives and found a
distinct difference in terms of quality of lives of descendants. He coined the term “moron”.

3. Charles Goring
- he believed that criminal traits can be passed from parents to offspring through the genes.
- he proposed that individuals who possess criminal characteristics should be prohibited from
having children.

INTELLIGENCE AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY


The classic studies of the Juke and Kallikak families were among the first to show that
feeblemindedness or low-intelligence can be inherited and transferred from one generation to the next.
Numerous test were also conducted that lead to the development of the use of IQ tests as a testing procedure
for offenders. The very first results seemed to confirm that offenders had low mental abilities and they were
found to be mentally impaired.

ALFRED BINET – a French psychologist who developed the first IQ test.


- the test measured the capacity of individual children to perform tasks or solve problems in relation to
the average capacity of their peers.

I.Q in Psychiatric use:


a) Normal Average – I.Q 90 – 110
b) Borderline – I.Q 70 – 84
c) Mild – I.Q 50 – 70
d) Moderate – I.Q 35 – 49
e) Severe – I.Q 20 – 34
f) Profound – I.Q below 20

Classes of Mental Retarded:


a) Idiot – mental approximately 2yrs old
b) Imbecile – mental approximately 2 – 7yrs old
c) Moron – mental approximately 7 – 13yrs old
2. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
- refers to the theories that attribute criminal behavior of individuals to psychological factors, such as
emotion and mental problems.

a. Sigmund Freud
- he is recognized as the FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
- known for his psychoanalytic theory
- according to him, criminality is caused by the imbalance of the three (3) components of
personality: the id, the ego, and the superego.
- according to him there are three parts of personality:
1. ID – this stands for instinctual drives; it is governed by the “pleasure principle”; the id
impulses are not social and must be repressed or adapted so that they may become socially
acceptable
2. EGO – this is considered to be the sensible and responsible part of an individual’s personality
and is governed by the “reality principle”; it is developed early in life and compensates for the
demands of the id by helping the individual guide his actions to remain within the boundaries of
accepted social behavior; it is the objective, rational part of the personality
3. SUPEREGO – serves as the moral conscience of an individual; it is structured by what
values were taught by the parents, the school and the community, as well as belief in God; it
is largely responsible for making a person follow the moral codes of society

Psychosexual Stage of Life


1. Oral – mouth – sucking, swallowing (baby)
2. Anal – anus – withholding or expelling feces (2yrs old)
3. Phallic – penis or clitoris – masturbation (2-7yrs old)
4. Latent – little or no sexual motivation
5. Genital – penis and vagina – sexual intercourse (adolescent)

3. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- sociological factors refer to things, places and people with whom we come in contact with and
which play a part in determining our actions and conduct. These causes may bring about the
development of criminal behavior.

a. Emile Durkheim
- he stated that crime is a normal part of the society just like birth and death.
- proposed the concept of “anomie” or the absence of social norms. It is characterized
by disorder due to lack of common values shared by individuals, lack of respect for
authority and lack of appreciation for what is acceptable and not acceptable in a society.

b. Gabriel Tarde
- introduced the theory of imitation which proposes the process by which people
become criminals.
- according to this theory, individuals imitate the behavior of other individuals based on
the degree of their association with other individuals and it is inferior or weak who tend to
imitate the superior and strong.

c. Adolphe Quetelet and Andre Michael Guerry


- He repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists
- founder of cartographic school of criminology.
- founder of moral statistics.
- cartographic school of criminology made use of statistical data such as population, age,
gender, occupation, religious affiliations and social economic status and studies their
influences and relationship to criminality.

MODERN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION


- environmental factors such as the kind of rearing or family upbringing, quality of teaching in school,
influences of peers and friends, conditions of the neighborhood, and economic and other societal
factors are believed to be contributory to crime and criminal behavior.
1. SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES
- refers not only to the physical features of the communities but also to the way society is organized.
- include such things as level of poverty and unemployment and the amount of crowded housing
which are believed to affect behavior and attitudes of individuals which in turn contribute to their
commission of crimes.
- also called social environment
- includes social disorganization theory, strain theory and cultural deviance theory.

a. Social Disorganization Theory


- popularized by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay.
- according to this theory, crimes in urban areas are more prevalent because residents have
impersonal relationships with each other.
- increase in the number of broken families and single parenthood are also very common in
disorganized communities.
- another feature of disorganized community is poverty as evidenced by poor living conditions
such as rundown houses, unsanitary and unsightly streets and high unemployment rates.

b. Strain Theory
- strain refers the individual’s frustration, anger and resentment.
- holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and the means they
can use to legally obtain them. This also argues that the ability to obtain these goals is class
dependent; members of the lower class are unable to achieve these goals which come easily to
those belonging to the upper class. Consequently, they feel anger, frustration and resentment,
referred to as STRAIN.

c. Cultural Deviance Theory


- gives emphasis on the concept of culture and sub-culture.
- according to this theory, because people in the lower class feel isolated due to extreme
deprivation or poverty, they tend to create a sub-culture with its own set of rules and values.
This is characterized by deviant behavior which results in criminal behavior among its
members.

2. SOCIAL PROCESS THEORY


- refers to a group of theories which point to the individual’s socialization process as the cause for the
commission of crimes. These theories cite interaction with people and experiences and exposure to
different element in the environment as primary factors to criminality.
- under this theory is the social learning theory which in turn has three (3) sub-theories: differential
association theory, differential reinforcement theory and neutralization theory.

a. Differential Association Theory


- formulated by Edwin Sutherland
- this theory states that criminal behavior is learned through socialization.
- criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication.

b. Differential Reinforcement Theory


- according to this theory, individual’s behavior depends on how people around him react toward
s his behavior.
- an act that is rewarded is repeated; an act that is punished will be avoided.
c. Neutralization Theory
- introduced by David Matza and Gresham Sykes.
- sometimes referred to as “drift theory”
- according to this theory, people know when they are doing something wrong, however, they
rationalize and justify their actions. This rationalizing is what we called “neutralization”.

3. SOCIAL REACTION THEORY


- more commonly called labeling theory.
- it states that people become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and they
accept those labels as a personal identity.
4. SOCIAL CONTROL THEORIES
- maintain that everyone has the potential to become criminal but most people are controlled by their
bonds to society.
- social control refers to the agencies of social control such as family, school, religion or church,
government and laws and other identified authorities in society.
- there are two (2) sub-theories: containment theory and social bond theory.

a. Containment Theory
- proposed by Walter Reckless
- he stated that inner and outer containments help prevent juvenile offending.
- containment means the forces within and outside the individual that has the power to
influence his actions.
- inner containments include positive self-concept, tolerance for frustration and an ability to
set realistic goals.
- outer containments include family.

b. Social Bond Theory


- propagated by Travis Hirschi
- this theory views crime as a result of individuals with weakened bonds to social institutions.
- according to this theory, there are four (4) elements of social bonds: attachment,
commitment, involvement and belief.

d. attachment – refers to the degree to which an individual care about the opinions of
others.
e. commitment – refers to an individual’s investment of energy and emotion in
conventional pursuits, such as getting good grades.
f. involvement – refers to the amount of time an individual spends on a conventional
pursuit.
g. belief – refers to acceptance of the norms of conventional society.

CRIMES AND CRIMINALS

CRIME
– refers to an act committed or omitted in violation of public law (Phil. Law Dictionary).
- It also refers to an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it
(Reyes 2006).

Act of Commission
- When the act performed is in a violation of law forbidding it.

Act of Ommission
- When the person failed to perform an act that is commanded by law

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

LEGAL CLASSIFICATIONS:

1. According to law violated


a. Felony – an act or omission punishable by law which is committed by means of dolo (deceit) or
culpa (fault)and punishable under the Revised Penal Code
b. Offense – an act or omission in violation of a special law
c. Infraction – an act or omission in violation of a city or municipal ordinance

2. According to the manner of committing crime:


a. By means of dolo or deceit – if the crime is committed with deliberate intent. Thus, it is called
intentional felonies.
 freedom or voluntariness
 intelligence
 intent
b. By means of culpa or fault
- felonies committed by means of culpa (fault)
- the act or omission of the offender is not malicious and the injury caused by the offender is
unintentional, it being the simply the incident of another act performed without malice
 lack of foresight
 lack of skill
 negligence
 imprudence

3. According to the stages in the commission:


a. Attempted – the crime is attempted when the offender commences the commission of a felony
directly or over acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the
felony by reason of some cause or accident other than this own spontaneous desistance.
b. Frustrated - when the offender performs all the acts of execution which would produce the
felony as a consequence but which, nevertheless do not produce it by reason of causes
independent of the will of the perpetrator.
c. Consummated - when all the elements necessary for its accomplishment and execution are
present

4. According to plurality:
a. Simple Crime – is a single act constituting only one offense.

b. Complex Crime – single act constituting two or more grave felonies or an is a necessary
means for committing the other

Two (2) Kinds of Complex Crime:


1. compound crime (delito compuesto)
2. complex crime proper (delito complejo)

5. According to gravity:
a. Grave felonies - are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which in
any of their period are afflictive.
b. Less grave felonies - are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum
period are correctional.
c. Light felonies - are infraction of laws for the commission of which the penalty of arresto menor or a
fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both is provided.

6. According to the nature of the act:


a. Crimes mala in se – are acts that are inherently evil. Examples are murder, robbery, etc.
b. Crimes mala prohibita – are acts which are prohibited only because there are laws forbidding
such acts. Examples are Illegal Possession of firearms, Traffic Violations, etc.

CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIME

1. According to the result of the crime:


a. Acquisitive crime – if the offender acquired or gained something by committing the crime.
Examples are robbery, estafa, bribery, etc.
b. Destructive crime – if the crime resulted in destruction, damage or even death. Examples are
arson, murder and homicide, damage to property, etc.

2. According to the time or period of commission:


a. Seasonal crimes – are crimes that happen only during a particular season or period of the year.
Examples are violation of election law, tax law violations, etc.
b. Situational crimes – are crimes committed when the situation is conducive to the commission of
the crime and there is an opportunity to commit it. Examples are pickpocketing, theft, etc.

3. According to the length of time of the commission:


a. Instant crimes – are those crimes that can be committed in a very short time. Example: theft
b. Episoidal crimes – are crimes committed through series of acts or episodes and in much longer
time. Example: serious illegal detention

4. According to place or location:


a. Static crimes – are committed only in one place. examples are theft and robbery
b. Continuing crimes – are crimes that take place in more than one place or several places.
examples: abduction, kidnapping, etc.

5. According to the use of mental faculties:


a. Rational crimes – when the offender is capable of knowing what he is doing and understanding
the consequences of his actions.
b. Irrational Crimes – when the offender suffers from any form of mental disorders, insanity or
abnormality. Thus, the offender doesn’t know what he is doing.

6. According to the type of offender:


a. White Collar Crimes – crimes committed by those persons belonging to the upper socio-economic
status or in the course of his occupational activities.
b. Blue Collar Crimes – are those crimes committed by ordinary criminals as a means of livelihood.

CRIMINAL
- in the legal sense, a criminal is any person who has been found to have committed a wrongful act in
the course of the standard judicial process; there must be a final verdict of his guilt
- in the criminological sense, a person is already considered a criminal the moment he committed a
crime

CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIMINALS

5. According to etiology
a. Acute criminal – is a person who committed crime as a result of reacting to a situation or during a
moment of anger or burst of feeling.
b. Chronic criminal – is one who committed a crime with intent or deliberated thinking.
1. Neurotic criminal – is one who has mental disorder.
2. Normal criminal – a person who commits crimes because he looks up to, idolizes people
who are criminals.

2. According to the type of offender:


a. Ordinary criminal – a criminal who engages in crimes which do not require specialized or technical
skill
b. Organized criminal – is one who possesses some skills and know-how which enable him to
commit crimes and evade detection.
c. Professional criminal – a highly skilled criminals which are engaged in a large scale criminal
activities ad usually operate in groups.

3. According to criminal activities:


a. Professional criminal – a criminal who earns his living through criminal activities.
b. Situational criminal – a person who got involved in criminal act because the situation presented
itself.
c. Habitual criminal – one who repeatedly commits criminal act for different reasons.
d. Accidental criminal – a person who accidentally violated the law due to some circumstances.

STUDY OF CRIMINAL LAW

EVOLUTION OF CRIMINAL LAWS

A) PREHISTORIC CRIME AND PUNISHMENT


Primitive Tribes
- punishment may be in the form of ostracism and expulsion
- adultery may be punished by the aggrieved husband who may kill the adulterer and his own offending
wife
- crime may be avenged by the victim himself or by the victim’s family

B) THE EARLY CODES

1) CODE OF HAMMURABI
- Hammurabi, the king of Babylon during the eighteenth century BC, is recognized as the first codifier of
laws
- it provides the first comprehensive view of the laws in the early days
- the Code was carved in stone
- the “law of talion”, or the principle of “tit for tat”,(an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth) appears
throughout the Code
- under the principle of the law of talion, the punishment should be the same as the harm inflicted on
the victim

2) THE HITTITES
- the Hittites existed about two centuries after Hammurabi and eventually conquered Babylon

3) CODE OF DRAKON
- knows as the “ultimate in severity”
- codified by Drakon, the Athenian lawgiver of the seventh century BC

4) LAWS OF SOLON
- Solon was appointed archon and was given legislative powers
- Solon repealed all the laws of the Code of Drakon, except the law on homicide
- Solon was one of the first to see that a lawgiver had to make laws that applied equally to all citizens
and also saw that the law of punishment had to maintain proportionality to the crimes committed

5) ROME’S TWELVE TABLES


- Roman law began with the Twelve Tables which were written in the middle of the sixth century BC
- the Twelve Tables were the foundation of all laws in Rome and written in tablets of bronze
- the Twelve Tables were drafted by the Decemvirs, a body of men composed of patricians

CRIMINAL LAW
– is that branch of public law which defines crimes treats of their nature and provides for their
punishment.

Revised Penal Code or Act No. 3815


– book that contains the Philippine Criminal Law and different special laws and decrees which are
penal in nature. It is called as RPC because the old penal code which took effect in the country on July 14,
1887 and was in force until Dec. 31, 1931 was revised by the Committee created by Administrative Order No.
94 of the Department of Justice, dated Oct. 18, 1927, composed of Anacleto Diaz as Chairman, Alex Reyes
and Mariano de Joya as members.The RPC was approved on Dec. 8, 1930 and took effect on January 1,
1932.

Principal Parts of the RPC


It is composed of two books; book one which is composed of Articles 1-113 and book two covering
Articles 114-367.
a. Articles 1-20 – principles affecting criminal liability
b. Articles 21-113 – penalties including criminal and civil liability
c. Articles 114-367 – felonies

Characteristics of the RPC


1. Generality – the law is applicable to all persons within the territory irrespective of sex, race,
nationality or civil status except:
a. Head of state
b. Foreign diplomats, ambassadors, who are duly accredited to our country
c. Foreign troops permitted to march within the territory
2. Territoriality - the RPC is applicable to felonies committed within the Philippine territorial
jurisdiction.
a. Philippine archipelago – all the islands that comprise the Philippines
b. Atmosphere water – all bodies of water that connect all the islands such as bays,
rivers and streams
c. Maritime zone – the twelve (12) Nautical Mile limit beyond our shore measured at
low tide

EXCEPTIONS TO THE TERRITORIAL CHARACTER OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE:


The Revised Penal Code shall be applicable to all cases committed outside the Philippine territorial
jurisdiction under the following circumstances:
a) should commit an offense while on Philippine ship or airship;
b) should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Island or obligations and
securities issued by the government of the Philippines;
c) while being a public officer or employee, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions’
d) should commit any of the crimes against national security and law of nations

3. Prospectivity - the provisions of the RPC cannot be applied if the act is not yet punishable on
the time the felony was committed. However, it may have a retroactive effect if it is favorable to
the accused who is not a habitual delinquent.

1. It is specific and definite.


Criminal law must give a strict definition of a specific act which constitutes an offense. Where
there is doubt as to whether a definition embodied in the Revised Penal Code applies to the accused or
not, the judge is obligated to decide the case in favor of the accused. Criminal law must be construed
liberally in favor of the accused and strictly against the state.

2. It is uniform in application.
An act described as a crime is a crime no matter who committed it, wherever committed in the
Philippines and whenever committed. No exceptions must be made as to the criminal liability. The
definition of crimes together with the corresponding punishment must be uniformly construed, although
there may be a difference in the enforcement of a given specific provision of the penal law.

3. There must be a penal sanction or punishment.


Penal sanction is the most essential part of the definition of the crime. If there is no penalty to a
prohibited act, its enforcement will almost be impossible. The penalty is acting as a deterrence and as
a measure of self-defense of the state to protect society from the threat and wrong inflicted by the
criminal.

CRIME STATISTICS
- refers to the measure of the level or amount of crimes.
- The collection or study of numerical data of crimes recorded/reported to the police.
- it uses the terms index crimes and non-index crimes in classifying crimes.
-
Index crimes are crimes which are sufficiently significant and which occur with sufficient regularity to be
meaningful, such as murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft and rape.

Non-index crimes are crimes that are not classified as index crimes. Violations of special laws and other
crimes against moral and order. These crimes are generated from the result of positive police initiated
operations.

STATISTICAL FORMULA:

1. Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE) – percentage of solved cases out of the total number of reported
crime incidents handled by the police for a given period of time. It is a general measure of law
enforcement agency’s investigative capability or efficiency.

Formula:
𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠
CSE = { ________________________________ } 𝑋 100
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠

2. Crime Rate – the number of incidents in a given period of time for every 100, 000 inhabitants of an
area/place.

Formula:
𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
CR = {_________________________} 𝑋 100, 000
𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

3. Average Monthly Crime Rate (AMCR) – the average number of crime incidents occurred per month
for every 100, 000 inhabitants in a certain area.

Formula:

𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
AMCR = { _________________ } 𝑋 100, 000 ÷ 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠
𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

4. Variance (or % change) – one way of analyzing crime trends. It measures the percentage change over
a given period of time.

Formula:

𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 − 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎


= {_____________________________________} 𝑋 100
𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎

5. Crime Analysis

a. Percentage Share of Crime Volume of a Certain Area

Formula:

𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎


= { ______________________________________ } 𝑋 100
𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒

b. Percentage Share of the Occurrence of a Type of Crime

Formula:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒
{ ________________________________________________________ } 𝑋 100
𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒

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