The man credited with the birth of the classical school was Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), who emerged during the Enlightenment period of the 18th century. Some argue that criminology as an independent discipline only emerged about 60 – 70 years ago (Garland 2002) and, while not concerned with the study of criminals per se in the same way that we now most associate with criminology, the classical school was extremely influential in the formation of the criminal justice system as we know it today. Farner (quoted in Taylor et al 1973), a 19th-century commentator on Beccaria, states: “Whatever improvements our criminal laws have undergone in the last hundred years are mainly due to Beccaria, and to an extent which has not always been recognised. It is said that Lord Mansfield never mentioned his name without a mark of respect. Romilly referred to him in the very first speech he made in the House of Commons on the subject of law reform. And there is no English writer of the time who, when dealing with criminal law, does not refer to Beccaria”. on the basis that individuals will choose to exercise their free will and employ rational decision making. On the contrary, Cesare Lombrosso (1835 – 1909) and the positivist school rejected such ideas and theorized that criminality is a personality trait with which one is born and can be diagnosed by certain physical aspects, and therefore represents a more scientific method for establishing the reasons for criminal conduct. However, this essay will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the classical school. Although Beccaria was...... middle of paper...... punishment even if they were aware of his existence. Statistics show that between 1993 and 1998 the average number of people in prison rose from 44,566 to 65,298, an increase of over 46%, and the Halliday Making Punishments Work report (Appendix 6, p130) published by the Ministry of the Interior in 2001 estimated that the average criminal committed 140 crimes per year. (Source: Civitas) This would certainly indicate that the threat of punishment, even when considered by a rational and mentally capable person (we can assume that those detained in traditional prison have been assessed as mentally capable), exercising one's free will, is Isn't that enough to act as a deterrent? As a recent blog on London Assembly member James Cleverly's webpage put it, "the central problem in British justice is that we have no settled view of what our basic theory of punishment is".”