Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/671

* CRIMINOLOGY. 579 CEIMINOLOGY. ami an act which is perfoctly harmless wlicu eoinmittod in one eountry is eonsideretl in an- other as a c-ontraventiun of the law. Each emm- try has also a nonieiielaUue of erinie anil nielhoils of criniinal procedure peeuliar to itself. In each country the police arc organized on a dill'erent principle and act on a dilTerent code of rules. Great dill'ercnces of opinion exist also among dill'erent nations as to the gravity of certain of- fenses. Whenever it sliall ho possihle to collect criminal statistics in (he several nations ac- cording to a uniform system, then criminology will liave the necessary inductive basis for fruit- ful com])arisons between nations. The narrow legal definition of crime as a viola- tion of the law is scarcely of any value for phil- osophical purposes; and a scientific definition which shall include all acts which at any time have been called crimes, but include none other — which shall, moreover, specify their common characteristics — remains yet to be found. It seems highly ])robalde that the study of primi- tive religious ideas and primitive social organiza- tion will throw considerable light upon the problem of discovering the essential nature of crime. It should be noted, meanwhile^ that originally the question whether a certain act vrns criminal or not, and if criminal, how the per- petrator should be punished, was answered by the oll'endcd party — individual, family, or clan — and not by the political organization of the whole people (the State). That the State should de- termine these matters and reserve to itself the right to judge and to punish is a result of quite recent evolution. Even to-day, the State is far from being the only coercive institution ; duels, and, in a measure, lynching, are survivals of the previous status. The question Avhether crime is increasing has been very widely discussed, pro and eon; there ap- pears to be a general opinion among experts that it is increasing. Certainly criminal statistics ever>T-here seem to bear out this view, with the possible exception of England ; and even there, ilr. W. D. Morrison maintains, in his book on Crime and Its Causes, the total volume of crime is on the increase. According to the eleventh census of the United States, it appears that the criminal class in our country has increased from I iu 3500 of the population 'in 1850 to 1 in 780.5 in 1S90. or 44p per cent., while the total popu- lation has increased but 170 per cent, in the same period. Causes of Chime. The factors responsible for crime may conveniently be divided into three great categories — cosmic, social, and individual. The cosmic factors of crime are climate and the variations of tempei'ature; the social factors are the political, economic, and moral conditions in the midst of which man lives as a member of society; the individual factors are those at- tributes inherent in the individual, such as descent, sex, age, bodily and mental character- istics. It is often extremely dillievilt to disen- tansrle these factors; many of them, indeed, are indirectly at work where they appear to be absent. Heredity, for example, seems to belong clearly to the individual factors; but if we trace an inherited characteristic back through a long line of ancestors, it may finally be found to have its origin in the circumstances of environment or education. It has been aptly remarked that a m.m's education should begin with his grand- I'ather. Cusiiic Eactoks. How profoundly the phys- ical structure, and likewise the mental life "of man, is ad'eeled by his natural surroundings, by climate, seasons, soil, the conliguralion of tli'e earth's surface and the nature of its products, is illustrated by the low type of life exhibited by the ])rimitive inhabitants (jf inhospitable, barren countries. Concerning the inlluence of climate on crime, statisticians have concluded that crimes against the person, as assault and homi- cide, are relatively more numerous iu warm climates, while crimes against property are more frequent iu colder regions. The statistics of homicide in Europe show that the warmer coun- tries, Italy and Spain, head the list in the pro- portion of murders to the po|)ulation, while England, Scotland, and Holland stand at the bottom of the list. Prof. Enrico Ferri, after a thorough examination of French judicial statis- tics for a scries of years, concludes that a maxi- mum of crimes against the person is reached in the hot months, while crimes against property come to a climax in the winter, ('rimes against the person are unduly high in the south and west of the United States; but here we have to consider not merely climate, but also race con- flicts, pioneer conditions, and uncertain legal control. Soci.tL FACTOR.S. Concerning the social factors of crime, it must be observed that the action of society upon the individual is so complex that it will here be impossible to discuss, even briefly, all these factors. Considering, first, the conjugal condition of criminals, it appears that there is a higher ratio of criminality among the unmarriecl and di- vorced than among the married. . partial ex- planation of this fact may lie in the circumstance that married men and women, being subject to the restraining influences of home life, are nmch less apt to yield to those anti-social tendencies which manifest themselves in crime. Considering, secondly, occupation, prison statistics .show that the higher the character of a man's daily pursuits the greater the unlikeli- hood of his falling into crime. An examination into the previous occupations of criminals shows that a very large percentage were engaged in mi- skilled labor. According to the census of 1S'.)0, of 52,804 convicts, 31,426 were ignorant of any kind of trade. The economically low position of the unskilled laborer exposes him to frequent unemployment and want, and hence to the dcs])eration which often leads to crime. French official statistics sununarizing the results of over fifty years indicate the following number of in- dictments for evciy 100.000 mcuibers of cacli class: Agriculture. 8: liberal professions and proprietors. 9; industry, 14; commerce, 18; domestic service. 29; vagabonds and without trade or regular occupation. 405. Thirdly, and closely related to occupation, is the inlluence of rural or city life on crime. In his Prisoners and Paupers (New York, 1803), Mr. H. M. Boies declares that our cities furnish 90 per cent, of our criminals. City life, with its crowded slums and tenement^, he considers one great cause of crime. Cities are hotbeds of lawlessness as compared with niral nci;;hbor- hoods. The city is the refuge and hiding-place of questionable characters; it intensifies the