Aims

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction , from an historical perspective, to the major issues under discussion in the field of criminology since this field was created in the Western world. This transdisciplinary introduction, which will cover the contributions of medicine, psychiatry, penal law, sociology, psychology and philosophy, highlights the impact of theoretical, ethical and political questions of the present knowledge on crime and punishment.

Main themes

The student will have to be able to identify the major features of differentiation and resemblance of the studied knowledge and to perceive the complexity of the thoughts sometimes hidden behind the over-simplification of some generally accepted ideas.

Objets
The course is primarily devoted to the knowledge on the crime, the criminalized person and the penal reaction which is reserved for them. As for the crime and the criminal, will be approached the thoughts of the 18th century, the birth of social sciences at the beginning of the 19th century, the development of psychiatry and finally, the birth of criminology(with Lombroso) as " specific activity of knowledge".

As for the theories relating to the penal reaction, the penal theories of the 18th century ( "classics") and the positivist theories will be studied. One will also examine the contribution of the first sociologists to the sociological thought.

Content and teaching methods

The various examined theoretical contributions are the subject of a masterly talk accompanied by a powerpoint projection. Each theory is located in its historical context and its relationship with the close theories. The works below constitute the fundamental reference of teaching. This course constitutes a 45 hours whole.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Evaluation: written exam (QCM)
Support: work in 2 volumes.
C. Debuyst, F. Digneffe, JM Labadie, A.Pires, Histoire des savoirs sur le crime et la peine, tome I. Des savoirs diffus à la notion de criminel-né, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 1995.
C. Debuyst, F. Digneffe, JM Labadie, A. Pires, Histoire des savoirs sur le crime et la peine, Tome II. La rationalité pénale et la naissance de la criminologie, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 1998.
The books take again the material taught orally so that they must be studied for the examination. The documents of Powerpoint projection and other information are available on the site i-campus of the course.

Other credits in programs