ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the social context within which classical criminology emerged, a time referred to as the preclassical era. It provides an examination of the development of contemporary deterrence concepts and the move toward a broader rational choice perspective. The last one-third of the twentieth century witnessed a resurgence of the deterrence concept and it continues as a popular theory of crime. The deterrence doctrine and its assumptions regarding human nature permeate social relations and institutions. Beccaria enumerated principles of punishment that became the hallmark of classical deterrence doctrine. Criminologists for most of the twentieth century tried to refute the deterrence doctrine with materials that were variations of the warden’s survey. Criminologists have far more complex conceptual schemes for estimating the effectiveness of sanctions in deterring people from engaging in criminal and delinquent behavior. Criminologists have identified a host of individual characteristics that might be differentially related to deterrability.
