CRIM 300W Week 9 Lecture Notes PDF

LECTURE CONFLICT AND CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY Theory integration - Quality of model and writing -- not right or wrong - Importance of literature review on selected crime Identify and study phenomenon, review existing theories, propose ways for integration - Current theories on risk factors -...

LECTURE CONFLICT AND CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY Theory integration - Quality of model and writing -- not right or wrong - Importance of literature review on selected crime Identify and study phenomenon, review existing theories, propose ways for integration - Current theories on risk factors -- violent behaviour and gang involvement for adolescents and young adults Before integrate -- present what the theories have explained - Argue that other theories haven't considered this certain integration - Use the concepts - Explain if its direct or indirect connection Attachment + imitation -\> delinquent behaviour + commitment Conflict/critical paradigm - Crime is socially constructed - Labels are differently applied -- who applies the deviant label to whom? Who established and enforced the laws? - Powerful people Consensus theories - Durkheim, social control, strain - Shared values define interests - Social institutions mediate the conflict between groups - Laws reflect the collective agreement on right and wrong - CJS -- differential offending Conflict theories - Labeling, critical, Marxist - Different values - Laws reflect and maintain the law creators -- wealthy and powerful - CJS -- differential processing -- who is more targeted, labeled Conflict theory assumptions - Society is not held together by agreement and consensus on major values but rather is - congeries of groups held together in a dynamic of equilibrium of opposing group interest and efforts. Conflict is viewed as a principle and essential social processes upon which society depends - groups disappear if they aren't needed in society - power is principle determinant of the outcome of this conflict - powerful groups control the law and define standards for behaviour socialist society - how power structures ,state ideologies, systemic flaws within as purportedly classless society contributed to systemic failures 1960S-1970S BACKGROUND FOR CRITICAL/CONFLICT THEORIES - social turmoil of 1960s - crime is political -- concepts of power and inequality are integral to understanding crime - criminologists as guardians of human rights central themes of critical crim - cjs is a tool of the wealthy and powerful - poor face demoralization condition -- Marx - white collar crimes are ignored - to solve crime, create an equitable society - systems of oppression and relationship to law making, tendency for society to criminalize behaviour of less powerful, social inequalities based on gender, race, ethnicity, class conflict theory - bonger, vold, quinney, dahdrendorf macro social conflict theories - goal -- to explain crime within economic and social contexts and express connections among social class, crime, and social control - crime -- function of conflict, reaction to unfair distribution of wealth and power in society - role of government -- creates a criminogenic environment - process of shaping criminal law -- laws as a tool for upper classes to control lower classes -- protect economic interest, prevent lower class from getting access to financial resources - bias is in the operation of the justice system Marxist theory - book: Capital -- a critique of political economy - capitalism - productive forces and productive relationships - owners of means of production - people who do actual labour - rigid class structure - bourgeoisie - proletariat - conflict -- why society exists - mode of production - manual - technical - means of production - those who own are ruling class - those who operate are controlled class - a monopoly of the means of production allow the ruling class to control the political state law in capitalistic societies - marx - emphasize and preserve private property -- bourgeoisie - appearance of promoting legal equality -- pacify powerless -- make them feel good about status quo -- obscure true nature and extent of oppression Marxist criminology - theories of surplus value - surplus value - labouring class produces wealth that exceeds their wages -- profit -- capitalist keep profit -- use profit to buy machines and replace workers -- workers make less and buy less -- economic crisis and crime elements of Marxist theory - crime is a result of inequality -- capitalism is at the roots cause of conflict because it was taken to be the source of unjust inequality - crime is a product of law enforcement -- those receiving less of the needed resources would question the legitimacy of the arrangement - crime is a function of social demoralization of workers in capitalist society -- working peoples choices is a slow death of starvation or a speedy one at hands of law research on Marxist criminology - rarely use standard social science methodologies - purely empirical studies rare - focus on crime and crime control as a function of capitalism - focus on CJS biases against working class -- racial profiling, how increasing prison population masks unemployment policy - socialism - diversion - less formal, more administrative measures - decriminalization - of certain illegal activities - changing in sentencing laws re some drugs - deinstitutionalization - moving from incarceration facilities critique - crime occurs at every social level, relatively disadvantages contribute disproportionately - ignores varied interest groups -- focus on class differentials - refuses to confront problems of socialist countries - doesn't explain crime in cub a that abolished private ownership of the means of production - capitalism is blamed for every predatory and personal crime - overlooks distinctions between people in different classes social conflict theory - bonger, currie, quinney bonger -- criminality and economic conditions -- 1916 - the capitalist mode of production breeds crime - key proximate cause for criminality - mentals state of egoism -- egoism is rooted in economic relations - ruthless competition and exploitation of others in pursuit of profit - society based on exchange isolates individuals by weakening the bond that unites them - bourgeoisie environment -- honesty is only valued as long as it does not interfere with ones advantage - proletariat - dependent on bourgeoisie and live in subordinate position while feeling poor and deprived - sell labour to survive often at early age - lower proletariat - does not succeeed in seelliong their labour currie -- crime in a market society - market society -- pursuit of personal economic gain becomes increasingly the dominant organizing principle of social life - market societies are Darwinian - offers few cushions against labour market and minimal public provision of social support - amoral force - the United States does not have a national health care support - market societies tend to withdraw public support and erode informal social support network quinney -- class, state and crime - crime for capitalist class -- secure its advantages - commits economic crimes - denies people based human rights - uses the state to protect its interest - to repress poor - crime for working class - response to harsh living conditions - conscious acts of rebellion new directions in critical criminology - postmodern - power, language, marginalized groups -- criminalized, radicalized - critical race theory - critical gender theory - left realism - restorative justice - deconstructionism correspondence theory of truth - scientific theories - truth is as correspondence to or with a fact, truth consists in a relation to reality, enlightenment -- believe in objective reality, universal truth, science or evidence - postmodernism - rejection of correspondence theory of truth, rejection of enlightenment - relativism, cultural/social constructivism - man is the measure of all things -- up to a person to decide what is true - no objective reality, all claims to truth are value laded, constructs of culture, power - if I believe, it means it is evaluation of conflict/critical theories - discuss major assumptions, strengths, and limitations white collar - tax fraud - bribery, influence peddling - criminal company law, corporate fraud - insider dealing, market abuse, criminal banking law - cybercrimes, computer fraud, protecting of company secrets chapter 11 conflict criminology early conflict theories -- sellin and vold sellins theory of conduct norms 1938 - conduct norms -- cultural rules that prescribe specific behaviours based on group membership and context - primary cultural conflicts -- conflict arising between 2 distinct cultures - border proximity, colonization, migration - secondary cultural conflicts -- occurs in single culture as it diversifies into subcultures - law and dominant culture -- laws reflect the conduct norms of the dominant culture volds group conflict theory - society consists of groups with competing interests -- social order is an unstable balance of these group conflicts - group dynamics - humans are group oriented and form groups around shared needs -- as groups overlap, conflict intensifies - law is the result of one group using state power to secure their interests -- control law and criminalize the other group - laws create minority power groups -- group lacking sufficient legislative power turks theory of criminalization - conflict arises when authorities and subjects are organized -- don't back down - sophistication -- manipulation of others behaviour -- avoids conflict - factors leading to criminalization - perception of the act by authorities -- law enforcements attitude towards an act - relative power of arrester and enforcer -- more likely with stronger power imbalance - realism of conflict moves -- unrealistic actions increase criminalization Quinney's social reality of crime - segments -- businesses, labour, women, populations -- people who share same values, norms - powerful segments can operate within their norms without criminal repercussions - influential groups might label their own wrongdoings as not criminal - impulsive or irrational acts could still reflect the values of less powerful segments - powerful individuals promote particular conceptions of crime to legitimatize their authority and allow them to carry out practices that support their own self interests Chambliss and seidmans analysis of criminal justice -- law, order, and power - judges' personal values and backgrounds align with wealthy and powerful -- they are part of that group so their personal interests reflect it - criminal justice agencies prioritize operational convenience over official goals - Agencies rely on political structures for resources, resulting in a disproportionate focus on prosecuting the powerless Blacks theory of the behaviour of law - Book -- behaviour of law - Stratification -- vertical wealth gap between individuals -- the greater the distance, the more law that can be utilized - Morphology -- relational distance, how much people are involved in each others lives -- minimal law use among close relationships, increases with less distance, decreases for completely isolated - Culture -- differences in cultural markers - crimes committed by less cultured to more cultured will be punished more - Organization -- structure of collective power -- more organized groups and punished less, but there is more punishment from crime against organized groups - Social control -- law is stronger when alternative social control is weaker Blacks later exploration of reforms -- sociological justice - Legal cooperatives -- neutralize corporate advantages in the legal system, members of co-op support each others needs - Desocialization of law -- strip identifying information like seeing or hearing details about defendants and victims - Starvation of law -- limit resources to the bare minimum to encourage alternative conflict resolution A unified conflict theory of crime -- ideas from Vold, Quinney, Chambliss, Seidman Values and interests 1. Peoples values stem from their life conditions 2. Complex societies contain people who live under different conditions 3. Therefore, the more complex, the more different values Patters of individual action 4. People act consistent w values and interest -- they think it is good, right, justifiable, benefit selves 5. If values and interests conflict they adjust values and then overtime believe it s right or good 6. Conditions are stable across life so there are stable patterns of action that benefit them Enactment of criminal laws 7. Part of a general legislative process where organized groups promote and defend their values 8. Laws represent a combo of values and interests of dif groups -- but greater power in groups means law will represent them more 9. The greater a groups economic and political power, the less likely their actions will violate the criminal law Enforcement of criminal laws 10. The more power, the more difficult to process them 11. Law enforcement tends to process easier cases 12. Tend to process individual with less political and economic power Distribution of official crime rates 13. Crime rates will be the inverse of the distribution of political and economic power Minority threat theory - Rooted in Blalocks propositons - Suggests that as minority populations grow, majority groups perceive them as a threat -- leads to heightened formal social control - Empirical testing -- cross sectional, panel, and time series methods generally support the hypothesis - Limitations -- focuses on black and Hispanic populations -- overlooks variations in perceived threats, does not address how perceived threats evolve based on historical context Successive threat theory - Snipes, Maguire, wang - Perceived threats from minority groups are not fixed and may shift as groups assimilate or new groups emerge Processing of individuals through the justice system - Decisions made by law enforcement -- may choose to arrest or avoid high power individuals - Effect of race is small in determining sentencing -- accumulation of other effects -- less likely to hire private attorneys or make bail -- cumulative disadvantage - Definitions of crime -- crack cocaine harsher sentences -- more used by black people Chapter 12 -- Marxist, postmodern, green criminology Critical criminology - crime arises from systemic inequalities. - Radical -- radical (from *radix*, meaning root) reflects the belief that addressing crime effectively requires fundamental changes to social structures. - Marxist - locates power in economic structures, particularly in the ownership and control of production - Postmodern - power lies within language, symbols, and cultural narratives - Green - exploitation of natural resources and harm to ecosystems are often disregarded as "non-criminal" when they benefit powerful corporate interests Overview of marx's theory - Developed in response to industrial revolution - Material forces of production -- society's capacity to produce goods -- develop consistently over time - Social relations of production -- relationships among people in a society -- dictate how goods are distribute -- initially aligns with material forced but they stagnate and become behind material production -- eventually hinder production -- leads to social upheaval - Happened with feudalism -- capitalism - Believed that socialism would overtake capitalism due to large gap forming between wealthy and poor Marx on crime - Some people are unemployed or underemployed -- demoralization -- drive them to commit crime - Lumpenproletariat -- those marginalized by economic system -- unemployed, vagabonds - Crime is the struggle of the isolated individual against the prevailing conditions -- primitive rebellion thesis -- crime is a reaction against oppressive social structures - Wood theft 1840: enforcement of such laws led to a significant portion of criminal prosecutions targeting forest crimes - Capital book: emergence of capitalism itself involved a form of theft. Traditional rights of peasants to land and resources were systematically dismantled Emergence of Marxist criminology - Bonger -- criminality and economic conditions - capitalism promotes greed and selfishness, leading individuals to pursue personal gain without regard for others - crime is predominantly concentrated in the lower classes, as the justice system disproportionately targets the poor for their crimes -- lets the wealthy pursue their interests - 1970s - revival -- primitive rebellion thesis -- criminal acts were unconscious forms of rebellion - Critiques -- block, Chambliss, Greenberg - Portraying the ruling class as a monolithic entity, failing to account for internal divisions and conflicts. - laws and their enforcement solely reflect the interests of the ruling class - crime is merely a political response to oppression - importance of acknowledging that underprivileged individuals often become victims of crime from within their own class Marxist theory and research on crime - contemporary Marxist criminology: structuralist view, asserting that the state's primary function is to maintain the social relations of capitalism over the long term - state may act in ways that serve multiple interests -- prevent downfall of capitalism - ruling class's victimization: corporate crime costs society about \$1 trillion annually, failure of the criminal justice system to effectively control street crime diverts public attention from the more significant harms - crime definition -- socially injurious behaviour that is typically unpunished - Violations of human rights (racism, sexism), Unsafe working conditions and inadequate child care, Environmental pollution, economic exploitation, and political repression - Understand lower class crime as a product of social learning - Left realism: advocate for practical reforms within the existing capitalist framework, impact of crime on working-class citizens Postmodernism overview - all knowledge is mediated by language, which is not neutral - historically privileged certain viewpoints over others -- scientific discourse - critiques the claim to objectivity in science, asserting that it is no more valid than other forms of knowledge - scientific claims have implicit biases - challenge linear and systematic approaches to reasoning -- cannot capture human experience - dominant groups shape narratives through controlling language - employs discourse analysis to explore how meaning and identity are constructed through language postmodern criminology - focus on diverse experiences of all criminal justice participants -- each actors language is shaped by their roles - language does not fully reflect true experience -- translate narratives into legal terms, reshaping stories - official CJS language can alienate participants and reinforce status quo - goal -- validate all discourses, establish new ways of speaking, value diverse perspectives - critique of violence -- violence is solved with violence green criminology - Michael lynch 1990 -- the greening of criminology - Examine ecosystem harm through political economy and corporate crime - Nigel south -- critique of humanity exploitation of natural resources -- environment as a victim - Pollution and regulation, wildlife injury, corporate environmental crime - Nonspeciest criminology -- Beirne -- nonhuman animals as victims -- utilitarianism -- equal consideration of suffering for sentient beings -- rights-based theory -- recognition of animals as moral subjects - Environmental factors impact criminal behaviour -- lead exposure linked to crime - Eco-global criminology -- environmental harm on global scale, ecological justice over legal harm definitions - Conservation criminology -- relationship between crime and natural resource management - Green-cultural criminology -- incorporate cultural significance and collective meanings surrounding environmental crime and harm