Chapter 11 Conflict Theories PDF

Chapter 11 Conflict Theories Prepared by Danica Dupont Slides prepared by Stephen Schneider Saint Mary’s Un...

Chapter 11 Conflict Theories Prepared by Danica Dupont Slides prepared by Stephen Schneider Saint Mary’s University Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-1 Learning Objectives Understand the differences between Sellin’s culture group conflict theory and Vold’s interest group conflict theory. Describe how Quinney’s (1970) group conflict theory differs from both Vold’s and Sellin’s conflict theories. Know the basic elements of Marx’s mode of production and what is meant by the economic base and superstructure. Understand the differences between instrumental Marxism and structural Marxism, and the meaning of relative autonomy. Describe the basic elements of the left realist position. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-2 Introduction Two theoretical perspectives have guided sociological scholarship on the relationship between crime and social structure: 1. Consensus perspective—assume a reasonable degree of agreement on things that matter in society. They also assume that social institutions such as the family, education, government, religion, and the economy normally all contribute to the smooth running of society. 2. Conflict perspective—criminal law reflects the interests of the powerful groups that create and enforce those laws. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 10-3  Introduction The conflict perspective assumes that societies are more divided by conflict than they are integrated by consensus. Conflict theorists question the assumption that laws represent the interests of society as a whole. Instead, they posit that the social norms and values codified into law are those endorsed by the more powerful or dominant groups in society. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-4 Cultural Conflict Theory: Thorsten Sellin Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-5 Cultural Conflict Theory Thorstein Sellin (1938) Modern society as composed of diverse cultural groups, each maintaining distinct “conduct norms” or cultural rules that govern appropriate conduct. Thus, there may be cultural conflict between the conduct norms of different cultural groups—for example, norms of immigrant cultures could come into conflict with the dominant culture norms. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-6 Cultural Conflict Theory One area where culture conflict appears is in the legal matters, especially criminal law. Criminal law “depends upon the character and interests of those groups in the population which influence legislation.” Social values that receive the protection of the criminal law are those valued by dominant interest groups. Criminal norms: “conduct norms” are codified into laws that represent the values of the dominant group. Crime is an expression of culture conflict when individuals who act based on the conduct norms of their own cultural group find themselves in violation of the conduct norms that the dominant group has enacted into law Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-7 Group Conflict Theory Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-8 Group Conflict Theory George Vold (1958): Group conflict theory focuses on crime that occurs due to conflict between competing “interest” groups. Law-making is a political process involving conflict between interest groups. “the whole political process of law making, law breaking and law enforcement becomes a direct reflection of deep-seated and fundamental conflicts between interest groups and their more general struggles for the control of the police power of the state. Those who produce legislative majorities win control over the police power and dominate the policies that decide who is likely to be involved in violation of the law” (Vold, 1958, 209). Copyright © 20120 by Top Hat 11-9 Group Conflict Theory Vold (cont.) Two classes of group conflict can result in criminal behaviour: 1. Crime occurs when there is a conflict between the behaviour of a minority group and the laws of the dominant majority(delinquent gang can be understood as a minority group whose interests are in opposition to the rules of the dominant majority) 2. Crime occurs from conflict between competing interest groups contest for power (many crimes are the result of political revolution or protest movements whose aim is direct political reform) Conflict theory has been criticized for only explaining a narrow range of crimes (politically or ideologically motivated crimes) Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-10 Conflict Theory Richard Quinney Quinney wrote Social Reality of Crime (1970) Whereas Sellin focuses on cultural group conflict and Vold on interest group conflict, Quinney’s group conflict theory focuses on the more broadly defined notion of “segments” of society, which he defines as types of “social groupings” The more powerful segments or social groups are able to secure and protect their own interests by influencing the formulation, enforcement, and administration of criminal law. Quinney saw much inequality in decision-making of public policies and laws. Only some interest groups, he felt, are sufficiently powerful Copyright © 2020 by Top to Hat influence public 11-11 Quinney’s Group Conflict Theory There are six propositions that make up Quinney’s theory: 1. Crime is a definition of human conduct that is created by authorized agents in a politically organized society. 2. Formulation of definition: Criminal definitions describe behaviours that conflict with the interests of segments of society that have the power to shape public policy. 3. application of criminal definitions: Criminal definitions are applied by the segments of society that have power to shape the enforcement and administration of criminal law. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-12 Quinney’s Group Conflict Theory 4. Development of behaviour patterns: Behavioural patterns are structured in segmentally organized society in relation to criminal definitions, and within this context persons engage in actions that have relative probabilities of being defined as criminal. 5. Construction of criminal conceptions: Conceptions of crime are constructed and diffused in the segments of society by various means of communication (the mass media). 6. The social reality of crime is constructed by the formulation and application of criminal definitions. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-13  Marxist Conflict Perspectives in Criminology Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-14 Marxist Conflict Perspectives in Criminology Marxist theories Criminologists have focus not on adapted Marx’s individual Marx himself wrote work to analyze the pathologies but on little on the subject relationship social, political, and of crime. between crime and economic the social world. structures that give rise to crime. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-15 Marxist Conflict Perspectives in Criminology The political and economic structures under capitalism promote conflict, which in turn provides the precipitating conditions (such as unemployment) for crime to occur. The law and crime should not be studied in isolation, but in relation to the whole of society and particularly the economic sphere. The Marxist approach provides a framework to study the interrelations among the capitalist mode of production, the state, law, crime control, and crime. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-16 Instrumental Marxism Instrumental Marxism assumes the state and legal and political institutions are a direct reflection of the interests of the ruling/capitalist class. Law is corresponded with class rule. The ruling class controls the formation of law, and the focus is on the coercive nature of the law. the state and the legal system as instruments that can be directly manipulated by the capitalist class Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-17 Instrumental Marxism In the Critique of the Legal Order, Quinney (1974, 16) offers six propositions that summarize his critical Marxist theory of crime control: 1. American society is based on an advanced capitalist economy. 2. The state is organized to serve the interests of the dominant economic class. 3. Criminal law is an instrument of the state and ruling class for maintaining and perpetuating the existing social and economic order. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-18 Instrumental Marxism 4. Crime control in capitalist society is realized through institutions and agencies controlled by political elite, representing ruling class interests. 5. The contradictions of advanced capitalism require that the subordinate classes remain oppressed by whatever means necessary, especially through the legal system. 6. Only with the collapse of capitalist society and the creation of a new society, based on socialist principles, will there be a solution to crime Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-19 Instrumental Marxism Wrongly portrays ruling class as homogeneous, Ignores constraints on the powers of the ruling class Ignores legislation that is Critiques of contradictory to the position Instrument of the powerful capitalist al Marxism class Overly deterministic in the view that the economic base is the foundation of the superstructure Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-20 Structural Marxism Structural Marxism opposes the instrumental Marxist assumption that the state is the direct servant of the ruling class. Instead, it argues that state institutions function in the long-term interests of capitalism (to reproduce capitalist society). The state and its institutions have a certain degree of independence from specific elites in the capitalist class (“relative autonomy”). Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-21 Structural Marxism The state must have relative autonomy to preserve the long-term interests of the capitalist class as a whole. A great deal of state action concerns not the enhancement of profit for a particular faction of the ruling class, but the maintenance of relations of production that make capitalism possible Many laws are enacted that do NOT represent the immediate interests of the capitalist class. While reforms do occur, the state is susceptible to the interests of powerful economic groups. The state enacts laws that are meant to curb capital, yet are often ineffective in their design and implementation. Laws that benefit the less powerful reflect the need to develop a widespread consent for the existing social order. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-22 Crimes of the Powerless Spitzer (1975): Marxian theory of deviance He argued that the criminalization of much behaviour is directed towards those problem populations who are surplus to the labour market. These problem populations are created in two ways. 1. They are created directly through the contradictions in the capitalist mode of production. (new technologies replace workers with machines, or when work is outsourced to other countries) 2. They are created indirectly through contradictions in the institutions that help reproduce capitalism, such as the schools (while mass education provides a means of training future wage labourers, this schooling also provides youths with critical insight into the alienating and oppressive character of capitalist institutions. This, in turn, can lead to problem populations in the form of dropouts and student radicals) Problem populations become candidates for deviance processing when they disturb, hinder, or call into question capitalist modes of production, social conditions within capitalism, etc. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-23 Crimes of the Powerless Greenberg (1993): juvenile delinquency Juveniles as a “class” are excluded from access to income and become surplus population. This creates delinquency, because they cannot finance their leisure and social activities. Adolescent theft occurs because of a conflict between the desire to participate in activities and the lack of legitimate sources of funding to finance these activities. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-24 Crimes of the Powerful Marxist research on corporate crime focuses on the harmful conduct of those inside the sphere of production in capitalist economies. Corporate crime has far greater negative impact on society compared to “street crime.” Capitalism and profit maximization create strong motivation for corporations to commit crimes and enact other socially harmful behaviours. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-25 Structural Marxism Tendency toward circular reasoning Too much emphasis on structure and not enough on Critiques of human agency to shape and direct the social world Structural Exclusive focus on class Marxism: relations has prevent other considerations, such as gender oppression and race oppression. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-26 Left Realism Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-27 Left Realism The relationship It emphasizes the between the need to examine the offender, the “square of crime”: victim, the police, and the public. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-28 Left Realism Society must pay attention to the serious harm generated by street crime, or “working-class crime.” Crime is disproportionately distributed among the working class, women, and racial minorities. The majority of working-class crime is intra-class, that is, both the offender and the victim tend to be from the same socioeconomic stratum Victimization surveys help focus on and examine the problem of crime for the working class. Employing self-report data, these types of surveys attempt to measure public attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about the extent and nature of street crime in the community and the effectiveness of police in dealing with it Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-29 Left Realism We must develop a working-class criminology that examines and offers practical solutions to street crime. We must advance concrete and non-repressive crime control programs and policies by Developing alternatives to prisons(community service, victim restitution, weekend prison sentences for working offenders) Developing pre-emptive deterrence (encouraging citizens’ groups to cooperate with the police) Making the police more accountable to the public, and “Harnessing the energies of the marginalized” to create a “politics of crime control.” Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-30 Left Realism It is ahistorical: it fails to take into account the economic, cultural, and historical context in which Critiques of crime takes place. Left It may “widen the net” of Realism: social control. Its common-sense approach fails to develop a theoretical account. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-31 Table 11.1: Conflict Theories Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-32 Summary Conflict theory views societies as more divided by conflict than they are integrated by consensus. Sellin’s cultural conflict theory Crime results when individuals who act based on their group’s conduct norms violate the conduct norms the dominant group has enacted into law. Vold’s group conflict theory: Crime results from conflict between interest groups. Richard Quinney’s group conflict theory: Crime arises from conflict between “segments” of society; the more powerful segments are able to protect their interests by influencing criminal laws. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-33 Summary Instrumental Marxists: the state and legal system are directly manipulated by the capitalist class. Thus, laws are created and enforced in the interests of the ruling or capitalist class. Structural Marxists dispute the instrumentalist view that the state is the direct servant of the ruling class. The state has a certain degree of independence from specific elites in the capitalist class. This relative autonomy helps explain why many laws are enacted that do not represent the immediate interests of the capitalist class. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-34 Summary Left realists: crime is a problem for the working class and other marginalized groups in the community, and working-class crime must be taken seriously. Left realists make use of victimization surveys to examine the problem of crime for the working class, with the objective of offering crime control policies that are not repressive. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 11-35