Positivism, in Western philosophy, generally, any system that confines itself to the data of experience and excludes a priori or metaphysical speculations. More narrowly, the term designates the thought of the French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857).

In positivism studies the role of the researcher is limited to data collection and interpretation in an objective way. In these types of studies research findings are usually observable and quantifiable. Positivism depends on quantifiable observations that lead to statistical analyses.

THE MAIN PHILOSOPHICAL TENETS OF LOGICAL POSITIVISM. According to logical positivism, there are only two sources of knowledge: logical reasoning and empirical experience. The former is analytic a priori, while the latter is synthetic a posteriori; hence synthetic a priori does not exist.

The primary idea behind positivist criminology is that criminals are born as such and not made into criminals; in other words, it is the nature of the person, not nurture, that results in criminal propensities. Moreover, the positive criminologist does not usually examine the role of free will in criminal activity.

When crime is truly the product of rational choice, the offender commits the act for reasons of personal gain or gratification. Broadly speaking, criminal behavior theories involve three categories of factors: psychological, biological, and social. …

Biological positivism is relevant in today’s society. The research does not suggest that biological factors are the sole cause of criminal behaviour for every individual offender, but that it can have an influence on an individual’s susceptibility to commit a crime (Hopkins Burke, 2009).

The positivist school views criminal behavior, not as a product of choice, but as being outside the offender’s control. It states that empirical methods, such as statistical analyses, are required to identify the root causes of offending.

invariant laws of the natural and social world