Legal opinion of the end of the 19th – early 20th century on the factors of criminality

Abstract

The main concepts of the causes of crime, which were developed by domestic scientists at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, are studied. It is emphasized that these ideas were based on the advanced ideas of European jurists, in particular, the statistical method and the theory of the "average man" by Adolf Quetelet. Researchers of that time linked the causes of crime with socio-economic, anthropological factors. In their works, the circle of factors that cause manifestations of deviant behavior of people is clearly outlined. It should be noted that the historiography of the specified period is characterized by global trends associated with the process of formation of criminology. In this regard, researchers pay close attention to the motivational complex of offenses. During the study of the topic, the main research approaches were formed. Proponents of biological predisposition to crimes were D. A. Drill, Z. F. Chizh, P. M. Tarnovska They used C. Lambroso's theory as a base. In turn, supporters of the socio-economic theory - L. E. Vladimirov, E. M. Tarnovskyi, I.Ya. Foynytskyi, M.M. Gernet, M.P. Chubynsky considered the complexity of the modernization process, which was taking place in Eastern Europe at that time, as the leading motives for crime. In the works of I. Ya Foynytskyi and O. M. Tarnovsky identified three main groups of motives: 1) socio-economic (unemployment, the level of bread prices, the level of education, and others); 2) physical (season, climate, geographical features); 3) individual (gender, age, temperament).