RAFFAELE GAROFALO: BIOGRAPHY AND CONTRIBUTIONS - SCIENCE - 2024

Raffaele Garofalo was an Italian jurist expert in criminology. Furthermore, he was the first author to use this term to refer to the science of studying criminals, crimes, and social controls relevant to a crime or potential crime. Their positions went against what was believed correct by the Classical School of criminology.

He ran contrary to the ideas of his teacher Cesare Lambroso, who had been considered the father of criminology at the time. Garofalo differed from the prevailing belief in the mid-nineteenth century in which it was claimed that the crimes had purely anthropological roots.

Biography

Little is known of the life of this criminologist, but it is known that Raffaele Garofalo was born on November 18, 1851 in Naples, Italy.

He dedicated his life to the study of laws and developed the positivist theory of criminology, in contrast to the traditional ideas of the time.

After obtaining his law degree, he studied criminology with Cesare Lambroso, the father of this science. According to Lambroso, the main factors that led people to commit crimes were anthropological. Garofalo's ideas were considered to belong to the positivist school and he combined those of his teacher with psychology.

Garofalo worked as a magistrate in the Italian judicial system, acted as a senator of the republic, and even became Minister of Justice in 1903.

Lambroso's practice was closely tied to science. In fact, he was considered a pioneer of criminology for connecting crime with scientific evidence.

However, Garofalo believed that an act of violence was considered a crime when it violated human nature. After dedicating his life to criminology, Garofalo passed away in his hometown on April 18, 1934.

Contributions

Garofalo's master considered physical attributes (such as jaw size) to be related to the probability that a person would commit a crime. He saw this as an anthropological influence, as he thought that certain attributes were tied to thoughts.

Garofalo agreed with his teacher on many things. One of these was the rejection of traditional thoughts that defined criminals as "slaves to their impulses" and people who did not have full control of their actions.

Having served as a member of the Italian judicial system, he understood many of the problems that existed in criminology and his time as minister served as the basis for presenting his future ideas.

Definition of a crime

Garofalo began to define the criminal tendency of each individual as a violation of the natural state of things, beyond a violation of the laws themselves.

According to this concept, it considered a specific act a crime if it broke with one of two natural conditions: probity, which is the natural state of a person in which they maintain their honesty and integrity; and pity, which in this case refers to the compassion that the criminal may have for his neighbor.

In addition, it introduced another concept to refer to minor crimes that did not directly violate human integrity.

These acts were considered "technical violations of the law" and, therefore, the punishment was not as severe. According to this concept, these acts could be solved through the use of fines or sanctions.

However, Garofalo believed that the most serious acts should be punished severely, to protect society from a latent danger.

The punishment

Traditionally, it was considered that a crime should be punished proportionally: the stronger the crime, the greater the punishment. Garofalo differed from this concept, stating instead that individuals should be studied in particular, no matter what crime was committed.

If the person who committed the crime is found guilty of breaking one of the two natural human conditions, the criminal should be eliminated. If the crime was not greater, there was no need to mete out a harsh punishment to the person responsible.

Elimination

The concept of Garofalo's elimination did not necessarily mean a death sentence. To define each crime, he created the Adaptation Law, which was used to deliver a dignified sentence to the criminal. He suggested three penalties for removal:

- The first type of punishment was the death sentence.

- The second punishment was the so-called partial elimination, which in turn was divided into two ideas: long-term imprisonment or isolation in agrarian colonies for young people who could be rehabilitated.

- The third method was the so-called forced repair. This means that the criminal had to repair the damage done by the offense committed.

In the event that the crime occurred due to an external situation (such as group pressure or extreme need), a lesser punishment was given, as the probability that it would not occur again is high.

Benefits of the Adaptation Law

Garofalo suggested that the Adaptation Law would have three main benefits, both for society and for the justice system. The first was the satisfaction of the social need for a defined punishment for each criminal.

He then suggested that his theory of elimination would serve to deter criminals from continually committing illegal actions, as one would already have a clear idea of ​​the punishment before committing the crime.

Finally, it ensured that implementing this law would improve the general quality of society. Criminals who refused to change their behavior would be "eliminated" from society in one way or another. Those who did correct their behavior could rejoin the social system as rehabilitated people.

Garofalo's system was designed to exclude people unable to function in a civilized society and, in turn, care for those who are part of that society.

This system laid the foundations for many of the judicial and criminalist ideas that are in force today.

References

1. Raffaele Garofalo: Biography & Contribution to Criminology, K. Poortvliet, (nd). Taken from study.com
2. Garofalo, Raffaele: Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory, 2010. Taken from sagepub.com
3. Pioneers in Criminology IV: Raffaele Garofalo, Francis Allen, 1945. Taken from northwestern.edu
4. Raffaele Garofalo, Wikipedia in English, January 6, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org
5. Raffaele Garofalo, Creator of the term 'criminology', Iter Criminis, September 20, 2016. Taken from itercriminis.com