Critically evaluate positivism's contribution to our understanding of Essay

Critically evaluate positivism's contribution to our understanding of the causes of criminal behaviour - Essay Example Positivists use scientific techniques to explain about events and behaviours of people (Scott, 2008). The theory was critical in explaining human behaviour, particularly criminal tendencies. Comte focused on criminal behaviour rather than the legal system; he was interested in ways of preventing criminal behaviour. Positivism in criminology was associated with positivist’s, such as Cesare Lombrosso, recognized as â€Å"the father of modern criminology†. He used physiognomy theories, and was influenced by Charles Darwin (Tibbetts, 2012). Positivism was one of the many schools of thoughts that arose in the 18th century in order to explain about criminology. The other schools are the classical and the Chicago school. These different principles of thoughts were based on different paradigms. Unlike the positivism, classical theory believed that people had the free will to choose whatever they wanted to do. There are various assumptions made in the positivism theory. John Mill in the naturalism theory said that social sciences should have the same structure as natural sciences. Natural sciences such as chemistry and physics cannot be compared with social sciences such as sociology and psychology. However, Mill insisted that all are sciences, and to obtain objectivity in the social sciences they should use the same structure as that of the sciences. Another principle of positivism is the unity of science. It said that all theories should be summarized into one theory. Another principle by Carl Hempel and Mill is about explanations, regularities and law. It said that the law should use scientific explanations in their work. Causation is a part of the positivistic theory. It was developed by Hume; however, it has been criticized for putting a lot of attention on the causation regularities than the real causation mechanisms themselves. The causation principle tries to show the relationship between