Two of the main factors that have historically determined moments of crisis for the criminal law “Dogmatik” are, on the one hand, the success of sociological positivism in the second half of the XIX century; and, on the other hand, the rise of the functionalist sociology in the second half of the XX century, as a consequence of the diffusion of the topical logic in the legal thinking and the widespread awareness of the necessity of considering, while applying the law, criminal policy goals and criminological knowledge. This paper aims at critically analysing both the recalled factors.