P2 : MODULE 9-14 INTR

ODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY NOTES AND DEFINITIONS EACH MODULE

MODULE 9 TERMS: CLASSIFYING CRIMES

•OFFENSE: When it is punishable by Special Laws

-Malum Prohibitum: is a Latin phrase which literally translates to, it is wrong as, or because, it is prohibited.
•FELONY: When it is punishable by Revised Penal Code.
-Malum in Se: that the act is inherently evil or bad or per se wrongful.
•MISDEMEANOR OR INFRACTION: When it violated an ordinance.

Crimes may be mainly identified into 2:

Legal:
*See the 14 titles of RPC.

Criminological Classifications of Crimes:

CATEGORY A:
Acquisitive – When the offender acquires something (gain)
Extinctive – When the end result of a criminal act is destructive (destroyed)

CATEGORY B:
Seasonal – Committed only during a certain period of the year (period)
Situational – Those committed only when given the situation is conductive to its commission

CATEGORY C:
Instant – Those committed in the shortest period of time (short time)
Episodic – Those committed by a series of acts undertaken in a lengthy space of time (series)

CATEGORY D:
Static – Those committed in one place (one place)
Transitory – Those are committed in several places (many places)

CATEGORY E:
Rational – Those committed with intention and offender are sane (knowledgeable/aware)
Irrational – Those committed with persons who do not know the nature and quality of their acts on account
of the disease of mind (insane/unaware)

CATEGORY F:
White Collar – Those committed by persons of respectability (high-class professions)
Blue Collar – Those committed by ordinary professional criminals to maintain their livelihood (laborers)

CATEGORY G:
Crimes of the Upper World – Crimes by large scale syndicates (mafia/cartel/mob)
Crimes of the Lower World – Crimes committed by amateur criminals like snatching (common crimes)
MODULE 10 TERMS: DEFINING THE CONCEPT ON THE EXISTENCE OF CRIME

This formula was devised by David Abrahamsen (Forensic Psychologist)

Where:
C-Crime/Criminal Behavior (THE ACT)
T-Criminal Tendency (DESIRE/INTENT)
S-Total Situation (OPPORTUNITY)
R-Resistance to Temptation (CONTROL)
The formula shows that a person’s criminal tendency and his resistance to them may either result in criminal
acts depending upon which of them is stronger. This means that a crime or criminal behavior exists when
the person’s resistance is insufficient to withstand the pressure of his desire or intent and the opportunity.

IMPOSSIBLE CRIME: is an act which would be an offense against a person or property was it not for the
inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or on account of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual
means. Impossible crime is true only when the crime committed would have been against a person or
against property. It is, therefore, important to know what are the crimes under Title VIII, against persons
and those against property under Title X. An impossible crime is true only to any of those crimes.

FORMAL CRIMES: Formal crimes are crimes which are consummated in one instance. For example, in
oral defamation, there is no attempted oral defamation or frustrated oral defamation; it is always in the
consummated stage.

MATERIAL CRIMES: Material crimes are crimes which undergo stages such as: attempted, frustrated, and
consummated. For example: murder, homicide, etc.

A felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are present
(successful); and it is 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. There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony
directly by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony by
reason of some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance.
3 Basic Elements of Crime (Legal Aspect):
1. INTENT – the actor must have had a guilty mind. Basis: “Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea”
⮚ Guilty act – actus reus ⮚ Guilty – mens rea
2. KNOWLEDGE – refers to whether the behavior in question was done knowingly.
3. FREEDOM – it refers to whether the actor exercises freewill.
Note: In order for a crime to happen all these (3) elements must present.
MODULE 11: IDENTIFYING THE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON THE CAUSES AND CONTROL OF
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

HOW DO CRIMINILOGISTS VIEW CRIME?

1. CONSENSUS VIEW
•Criminal behavior is behavior in violation of criminal law.
•It is not a crime unless it is prohibited by the criminal law.
•The term consensus implies general agreement among a majority of citizens on what behaviors should be
prohibited by criminal law and henceforth be viewed as crimes.
•The law defines crimes, agreement exists on outlawed behavior, and law applied to all citizens equally.

2. CONFLICT VIEW
•The definition of crime is controlled by wealth, power, and position and not by moral consensus or the fear
of social disruption.
•It is a political concept designed to protect the power and position of the upper classes at the expense of the
poor.
•The law is a tool of the ruling class, the law is used to control the lower class, and crime is politically
defined.

3. INTERACTIONIST VIEW OF CRIME

•Crimes are outlawed behaviors because society defines them that way and not because they are inherently
evil or immoral acts.
•Moral entrepreneurs define crime and criminal labels are life-transforming events.

FOCAL POINTS IN THE EXPLANATION OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

A. Criminal Anthropology – also called Anthropological Criminology. It is based on perceived links
between the nature of a crime and the personality or physical appearance of the offender.
B. Criminal Psychiatry – It involves the assessment and treatment of mentally abnormal offenders, as well
as the legal aspects of psychiatry which require knowledge of the law relating to ordinary psychiatric
practice, civil law, and issues of criminal responsibility.
C. Criminal Psychology – Is a branch of the field of psychology which focuses on criminals.
D. Physiognomy – It is based upon the ideas that the assessment of the person’s outer appearance, primarily
the face, may give insights into one’s character or personality.
E. Phrenology – Theory which determines character, personality, traits, and criminality on the basis of the
shape of the head.
F. Criminal Geography – Criminal behavior is correlated to climate, humidity, wind velocity, atmosphere,
pressure, rainfall, nature of soil and other geographical factors.
G. Sociological Factors – Causes of criminal behavior are the things, place, and people with whom the
person comes in contact with and contributes to the development of criminal behavior.
VOCABULARY:
Id – Pleasure principle; refers to the impulse or instinct in social drive. (INSTINCTS)
Ego – Reality principle; forms the man’s physical organization between his sensory stimuli and his motor
activity. (Reality/Reactionary)
Superego – Conscience of man; tries to correct or control the ego and represented by the voice of God.
(MORALITY)
Schizophrenia – mental disorder characterized by the loss of contact with reality, disturbance of thought and
perception, bizarre behavior. Formerly known as Dementia Praecox.
MODULE 13: INTRODUCING THE BRIEF CONCEPT OF PENOLOGY

PENOLOGY – Refers to the study of punishment of crime or of criminal offenders. It includes the study of
control and prevention of crime through punishment of criminal offenders. The term derived from the Latin
word “poena” which means pain and suffering. Penology is otherwise known as Penal Science. FRANCIS
LIEBER was the sociologist who coined the term penology which means punishment for criminals.
Penology is the study of a criminal and legal penalty.

PENAL MANAGEMENT – Refers to the manner of practice of managing or controlling places of

confinement as jails or prisons.

CORRECTIONS – A branch of the Criminal Justice System concerned with the custody, supervision and
rehabilitation of criminal offenders.

CORRECTIONAL ADMINISTRATION – The study and practice of a system management of jails or

prisons and other institutions concerned with the custody, treatment, and rehabilitation of criminal
offenders.

PUNISHMENT – It is the redress that the state takes against an offending member of society that usually
involves pain and suffering

7 CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES NATIONWIDE

1. The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) – one of the seven major facilities handled by the Bureau of Corrections
(BuCor), an agency under the Department of Justice located in Muntinlupa City. 3,000 prisoners
capacity, January 22, 1941, 587 hectares.
2. The Ihawig Prison and Penal Farm is located on at Barangay Ihawig, Palawan. Biggest penal facility in
the country, 40,000 hectares, Ihawig from the term “luhit”. It was established in 1904 by the Americans
in 28,072 hectares of land.
3. The Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm is situated in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. September 26,
1954, Presidential Proclamation No. 72.
4. The San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm is situated in Zamboanga City, Philippines. 1832, first penal
facility in the country, destroyed in Spanish-American war in 1898
5. The Davao Prison and Penal Farm located in Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte. Panabo City, January 21,
1932, Presidential Proclamation 414.
6. The Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) main branch is located in Mandaluyong City and its
satellite camp (CIW Mindanao), located at Juan Acenas Sub-Colony, in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte.
November 27, 1929 by Virtue of Act No. 3579 as first and only prison for women in Philippines.
September 18, 2007 CIWMindanao was established by virtue of a Department of Justice Order in Davao
del Norte.
7. The Leyte Regional Prison located in Abuyog Leyte. January 16, 1973, Presidential Proclamation No.
1101 and its operation issuance of a Presidential Decree 29.
MODULE 14: DISCUSSING THE CONCEPT OF THEORY
According to Freda Adler, a theory is a statement that explains the relationship between abstract concepts in a
meaningful way. For example, if scientists observe that criminality rates are usually high in neighborhoods
with high unemployment rates, they might theorize that environmental conditions influence criminal behavior
(Siegel, 2007).

Social theory - defined as the systematic set of interrelated statements or principles that explain aspects of social
life. Theory serves as a model or framework for understanding human behavior and the forces that form it. It is
based on verified social facts or readily observed phenomena that can be constantly calculated and measured
(Siegel, 2007).
Theory – A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based general
principles independent of the thing to be explained. It is derived from the Greek word “theoria” which means
“contemplation or speculation” (Oxford’s dictionary).
Theory – A plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain
phenomena. It is synonymous with the terms thesis, hypothesis, supposition, and proposition (Meriam-
Webster’s Dictionary).
According to APA dictionary of psychology (VandenBos, 2007) as cited in (L’Abate, 2011) a theory is a
principle or a body of interrelated principles that purports to explain or predict a number of interrelated
phenomena. In philosophy of science, a theory is a set of logically related explanatory hypotheses that are
consistent with a body of empirical facts and may suggest more empirical relationships.
Moore, 1991, stated that a theory is a related set of concepts and principle about a phenomenon. It explains how
some aspects of human behavior or performance is organized. The components of theory are concepts and
principles. A concept is a symbolic representation of an actual thing i.e. tree, chair, table, computer, distance,
etc. Construct is the word for concepts with no physical referent i.e. democracy, learning, freedom, etc. One
type of construct that is used in many scientific theories is called a variable. On the other hand, a principle
expresses the relationship between two or more concepts or constructs.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THREE STAGES OF THEORY DEVELOPMENT:

1. Speculative - Attempts to explain what is happening.

2. Descriptive - Gathers descriptive data to describe what is really happening.

3. Constructive - Revises old theories and develops new ones based on continuing
research. The critical point relating to theory construction is its purpose to predict.

The Main Purpose of Theory is to provide the means to develop mathematical, analytical and descriptive
models that predict counterintuitive, non-obvious, unseen or difficult to obtain outcomes. The Theory is clearly
derived by some other means – it is the imagination and creative insight of the innovator by which theory is
developed.