História e Epistemologia da Criminologia

Code:

C210

Acronym:

HEC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Criminology

Instance: 2025/2026 - 2S (since 09-02-2026 to 22-05-2026)

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Criminology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
C	68	Oficial Study Plan LC 2023	2	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

- Learn about the historical and epistemological conditions for the emergence and development of scientific knowledge about crime, criminals and social reaction in Western countries, with a special focus on Portugal.
- Reflect on the major foundational criminological issues from a critical historical and epistemological perspective
- To develop reasoned reflections on today's major criminological topics, based on a critical analysis of the historical development of Criminology.
- The program will focus in particular on the conceptions of crime, the criminal and social reaction throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. These conceptions will be approached using epistemological tools borrowed from Foucault, Bachelard and Kuhn.

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Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the semester, students should be able to identify and critically reflect on the genesis and historical development of Criminology, considering its special complexity in relation to the historical “a priori” (Foucault), the scientific paradigms (Kuhn) in force and the permanent becoming (Bachelard) of knowledge.
They must therefore be able to free themselves from a simplistic and linear historical narrative, developing complex analytical judgments about the evolution of criminological knowledge in its articulation with the “governmental project” (Garland).
By the end of the semester, they will be able to characterize the evolution of knowledge about crime, the criminal and social reaction from the 17th century onwards, especially in Portugal.

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Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

NA

Program

I. What is science? Epistemological considerations on the genesis of scientific thought; application to Criminology


II: How do sciences develop? Epistemological approaches
The Positivism of A. Conte;
G. Bachelard's dialectical rationalism;
T. Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions;
The episteme of m. Foucault

III. The criminological systems of thought of the 18th-19th centuries
Pre-paradigmatic works: the prison reform movement; the Cartographic School; the development of Alienism and its relationship with crime; Morel's Theory of Degeneracy
The Classical Paradigm: the Classical School of Criminal Law, Beccaria and Bentham
The Paradigm of Criminal Anthropology: the Italian Positivist School, main authors (Lombroso, Garofalo, Ferri) and lines of thought, main criticisms and subsequent developments
The paradigmatic revolution: conceptions of the normal and the pathological, their influence on the subsequent development of Criminology throughout the 20th century
Unitas Multiplex (Agra): Criminology at the dawn of the 21st century

IV - The History of Criminology in Portugal
Concepts and studies on crime and the criminal
Conceptions and studies of social control
Criminology in Portugal at the dawn of the 21st century

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Mandatory literature

Agra , Cândido da; Elementos para uma epistemologia da criminologia
Agra , Cândido da; A história epistemológica da criminologia
Agra , Cândido da; A epistémè das ciências criminais : exercício empírico-teórico
Beccaria , Cesare; Dos delitos e das penas. ISBN: 972-31-0816-X
Beirne , Piers; Inventing criminology : essays on the rise of homo criminalis. ISBN: 0-7914-1276-8
Dias , Tânia; Elementos para uma história da criminologia em Portugal
Garofalo , Raffaele; Criminologia : estudo sobre o delicto e a repressão penal : seguido de um appendice sobre os termos do problema penal
Kuhn , Thomas S.; A estrutura das revoluções científicas. ISBN: 85-273-0111-3
Bachelard , Gaston; A filosofia do não : filosofia do novo espírito científico

Teaching methods and learning activities

Lectures will be used to explain content and seminars will be used to develop critical reflection and systematize knowledge, using small groups for analysis and discussion.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	40,00
Exame	60,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	10,00
Estudo autónomo	30,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Trabalho de investigação	30,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

The student will pass the course if he/she completes both the distributed assessment and the final exam, and must have more than 8 points in each of these assessment elements (see the specific regulations for assessing knowledge in the Criminology degree course: art. 10, no. 3, al. a).

Calculation formula of final grade

Assessment (40%) with final exam (60%)

Examinations or Special Assignments

NA

Internship work/project

Na

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

NA

Classification improvement

See general rules. O elemento de avaliação distribuída é considerado para efeitos de melhoria de classificação (cfr. Regulamento)

Observations

Throughout the semester, bibliography will be provided in electronic format, e.g. relevant scientific articles.