Critical Criminology and Cultural Perspectives

Contemporary Critical Criminology

• This chapter discusses critical criminology, which aims to expose inequalities and injustices, not just explain crime.
• Some schools of criminology focus on reducing crime opportunities rather than understanding its motivations.
• Critical criminology stands in contrast to this administrative approach.
• It criticizes current policies and practices, inviting change with promises of a more just outcome.
• Critical criminology draws attention to hidden injustices and strives to relate these to the study of crime in the real world.
• It seeks to question existing understandings of crime and society, not just evaluate and manage it.

Learning Objectives

• Explains the meaning of "critical" in critical criminology.
• Highlights the origins of critical criminology in Canada, including the New Criminology and the Human Justice Collective.
• Summarizes Michel Foucault's concept of power and its significance to critical criminology.
• Discusses the prevalence of risk and actuarialism in contemporary criminal justice, linking it to the "risk society" concept.
• Outlines the contributions of cultural criminology to the field.
• Explains Pierre Bourdieu's field theory and its application to crime, citing Loïc Wacquant's work.
• Summarizes Giorgio Agamben's concept of the "state of exception" and its relation to sovereignty.
• Describes Jacques Derrida's deconstruction theory and its use in critical criminology.

Introduction

• Some schools of criminology adopt an administrative approach, focusing on minimizing crime opportunities instead of criminal motivations.
• These approaches often fail to address deep-rooted structural issues or inequalities.
• Criminal justice institutions may adopt a critique that invites their own destruction while promising more just outcomes.

Introduction: Critical Criminology

• Critical criminology draws attention to hidden or overlooked injustices and inequalities.
• It seeks to understand how these issues relate to the discipline of criminology.
• The goal is to dismantle societal constructions that hinder human freedoms and choices.
• It attempts to forge a more equitable and just world free from misery.

What is Critical about Critical Criminology?

• Critical criminology aims to fundamentally challenge the system, not just tinker with its parts.
• It promotes a transformative critique, addressing social inequalities and suffering.
• The "critical" in critical criminology signifies a commitment to transforming justice, not just judging.
• Mainstream criminology often focuses on judgment, not change.

What is Critical about Critical Criminology?

• Critical criminologists want to move beyond simply assessing existing social structures.
• They encourage destabilizing existing relations and identifying "other" ways of being in the world.
• Critical criminology rejects judgments of existing frameworks and instead proposes alternative models.
• Its purpose isn't to manage marginalized communities but to create a more just world for all.

Critical Criminology in English Canada

• Taylor, Walton, and Young's New Criminology (1973) identified starting points for a new approach to criminology.
• They criticized conventional criminology's support for the political and economic status quo.
• They also criticized the focus on biological and psychological factors and instead advocated for a "fully social" criminology that considers the wider structural causes of crime
• The New Criminology advocated for examining issues from a structural and political-economic standpoint.

Critical Criminology in English Canada

• Crime is understood within a broader sociocultural framework, encompassing political-economic and structural conditions producing crime.
• Its focus includes analyzing relations between crime, economic modes of production, and power dynamics.
• This approach also questions the criminal justice system, including its role in perpetuating inequality.
• The critique delves into how laws are created and enforced and promotes a dialectical approach to understanding the reciprocal interactions between structure and agency.

Critical Criminology in English Canada

• This Canadian approach to critical criminology challenged established criminological traditions.
• Several scholars expressed that existing criminological theories failed to consider fundamental social structures, challenged prevailing state-defined concepts of crime, and believed the criminal justice systems could be easily adjusted to resolve social issues.
• A dedicated journal "Crime and Social Justice" showcased Canadian critical criminology.
• Internal conflicts arose within those promoting critical criminology which influenced the future of the movement.

Critical Criminology in English Canada

• Left Realists and Left Idealists emerged: two distinct yet related groups.
• Left Realists tackled crime with pragmatism, while Left Idealists rooted their approach in abstract principles like Marxist theory.
• These different perspectives highlight the diverse dimensions within critical criminology.

Governmentality and Power: Foucault and Criminology

• Foucault's work emphasizes that power isn't solely repressive but also productive.
• It shapes individuals through various tactics (discipline, surveillance, governmentality) to become more controllable subjects.

Foucault

• Foucault's work on governmentality explores how power creates individuals who are more easily managed.
• It analyzes how power influences everyday behaviors and social norms.
• This analysis recognizes power's role in producing and shaping individuals.
• Power relations affect numerous aspects of human life.

Foucault

• Power operates on human behavior in various settings.
• Discipline, surveillance, and risk assessment are examples.
• The objective is to mold conduct towards desired outcomes (such as conformity).
• These methods play a crucial role in managing behaviors.

Foucault: Governmentality

• Critical scholars employ Foucault's ideas to understand diverse domains of governance, including state and non-state actors.
• Various mechanisms extend beyond conventional state structures, influencing social processes and human actions.
• Examples include how private security companies and immigration policies influence the ways we interact in society.

Actuarialism, Risk, and the Risk Society

• Actuarial technology and risk evaluations increasingly shape how offenders are treated.
• Risk assessment strategies have become commonplace in contemporary criminal justice, with potential negative consequences such as increased surveillance.
• Risk-based strategies often lack context and can unfairly target certain groups.

Actuarialism, Risk, and the Risk Society

• Risk is frequently managed rather than addressed as a societal problem with structural sources.
• Contemporary criminal justice (CJS) practices often prioritize risk assessment over solving social issues or addressing fundamental problems.
• The "risk society" framework encourages self-preservation against crime, which may have unintended consequences for marginalized populations.

Cultural Criminology

• Culture profoundly shapes how crime is understood and how it's viewed and experienced.
• The perspectives of the offenders also affect how crime is seen.
• This cultural approach extends beyond legal interpretations and considers how individuals and groups create meaning from experiences like crime.

Field Theory of Criminology

• Bourdieu's field theory, by analyzing the cultural and economic factors shaping crime environments, exposes how those in power wield influence.
• It considers inequality in power and resource distribution and examines the many aspects of social practice.
• The theory emphasizes various "fields" in society (e.g., politics, economy) and how players in these domains wield power.

Field Theory of Criminology

• The theory illuminates how diverse groups in society possess varied forms of "capital", which determines each group's competitiveness and access to resources.
• Wacquant's perspective argues that criminalized identities are not inherent but are constructed symbolically, economically, and culturally.
• Criminology should identify how dominant groups leverage various forms of capital to create and strengthen their power.

Agamben: Sovereignty and the State of Exception

• Agamben examines sovereignty's relation to the declaration of emergency laws and conditions.
• These include how states curtail rights to maintain order during crises or unrest.
• His perspective reveals that conditions associated with sovereignty can sometimes override legal rights.

Agamben: Sovereignty and the State of Exception

• Agamben emphasizes that the ability to suspend rights is inherent to sovereignty.
• Modern states invoke the "state of exception" often after crises, suspending civil liberties to restore order.
• This analysis explores how states can invoke exceptional measures that override typical legal processes.

Derrida: Deconstruction Is Justice

• Derrida's deconstruction examines how concepts like "community", "safety", and "security" in criminal justice systems are often constructed with hidden elements.
• Derrida's approach reveals underlying assumptions, contradictions, and possible exclusions hidden within legal and social discourse.
• Analyzing seemingly straightforward concepts via deconstruction can help to unveil layers of meaning and hidden agendas within policies and practices.

Derrida: Community and Justice

• "Community" is often presented as inclusive but may contain implicit exclusions.
• Inequalities in resources and power contribute to inequality and exclusion when analyzing "community".
• Analyzing the social justice system using these concepts helps to uncover inherent biases.

Derrida: Deconstructing Justice

• Justice is often understood as a fixed concept.
• Derrida's viewpoint emphasizes that "justice" is an ideal pursuit, not a concrete entity.
• In social theory, Justice is seen as something in relation to social constructs, not something fixed.

Criticisms of Contemporary Critical Criminology

• Some critics argue that critical criminology can be overly abstract and theoretical, lacking clear or effective practical applications.
• The complex language may obscure meaning and make the theory difficult to grasp.
• The critique may lack an easily recognizable call to action.

Summary

• Critical criminology challenges conventional approaches to crime, advocating for a deeper understanding of social inequalities and power structures.
• It emphasizes challenges to traditional understandings of concepts like crime and governance itself.
• Critical criminology actively seeks to uncover and unravel underlying assumptions and possible exclusions lurking in criminal justice.
• It often uses Foucault's work on power to illuminate how societal structures control individuals.