Final answer:
Classical criminology focuses on the rational choices of individuals who commit crimes and emphasizes punishment for breaking the law regardless of personal rationalizations. Offenders are punished for the act of committing the crime after weighing the benefits against the costs through a cost-benefit analysis. It is centered on the act itself rather than any socio-economic factors or personal motives.
Step-by-step explanation:
Classical criminology, with its roots in Enlightenment ideals, focuses on the concept that individuals have free will and that they make rational choices to commit crimes. In classical criminology, offenders are punished for their behavior regardless of their personal rationalizations or excuses. Punishments for violating norms are central to this perspective as it is expected to act as a deterrent. The underlying assumption of this approach is that all individuals, when faced with the decision to commit a crime, go through a cost-benefit analysis. Such analysis weighs the potential benefits of a crime, like monetary gain, against the potential costs, such as the likelihood and severity of punishment.
Classical criminology emphasizes that an individual chooses to commit a crime after deciding that the benefits outweigh the costs. The approach ignores the socio-economic factors and focuses on the crime as the act of breaking the law and the need for punishments that reflect societal norms and laws. Consequently, classical criminology does not consider offenders' personal backgrounds, motives, or excuses as relevant to the crime or its punishment; the act itself is what is punishable. Therefore, classical criminology punishes individuals for their actions, not for their justifications or lack thereof.