Chapter 9 Sociological theories: Critical Perspective

Intro

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The soc theories in the previous to chapters where all positivist theories o Why crime occursoccurs because of social environment o Traditional theories Critical Perspective on Crime- highlights the way which people and institutions respond to crime and criminals and criminals ( social reaction theories) o Definition of crime problematiccriminal and crime o Power and inequality of it Social class, race, ethnicity, and gender o Became popular in 60s and 70scivil rights, Vietnam, womens rights o The theirs Labeling Conflict Feminist

Labeling Theory Addresses three issues o The definition of deviance and crime o Possible discrimination in the application of official labeling and sanctions o The effect of labeling on continued criminality The Relativists Definition of Crime and Deviance o Relativist definition of crime assumes nothing about a given behavior automatically makes it a crime Deviance is not a property of a behavior but how others regard the behavior o Howard S. Becker one of the originator of labeling theory Deviant behavior is behavior that people so label Ex. Murders is label is acceptable in some cases and is not labeled War Cop

Capital punishment The Imposition of The Deviant Label o People in power impose definitions of deviance behavior committed by people without power Official labeling discriminates against people of color, the poor, and women o The saints and the roughnecks o Our impression of people affect how likely they are to officially labeled o Extralegal factors ( race, gender social class) vs legal factors(evidence, seriousness of offense) Research inconsistent Extralegal factors matter much less then legal factories The weak evidence supporting extralegal factors lead to the dismal of labeling theory The Negative Consequences of Labeling o Symbolic interactions approach Stresses that labeling someone deviant can produce a deviant self-image that promotes the person to commit more deviance dramatization of evil o Official labeling by the legal system is counter productive Deviance amplification- the commission of continued deviance and the application of a deviant lifestyle o Don't focus on the initial act or two leading someone to be official labeled Primary deviance occurs among a wide segments of the population Being labeled and treated as a criminal causes secondary deviance ( continued deviance) Evidence shows how being labeled deviant can reduce opportunities to succeed in law abiding world Milwaukee job study Blacks w/o less likely to be called back then whites with criminal record Juvys less likely to graduate high school and employment in young adulthood

o Deterrence theory vs labeling theory Labeling directly challenges deterrence theory. Has opposite effect Labeling theory says labeling causes or incarses deviant self-perception where deterrence assumes that it increase the offenders perceive risk of being arrested and aversion to arrest and punishment Studies found mixed results Study on labeling theory Official labeling does not increase deviant selfimage Already had it or able to keep positive selfimage More negative self-image to occur on minor delinquency Evaluation of Labeling Theory o criticism overly passive view of people succumbing to the effects of being labeled deviant empirical research doesnt support the theory life time of crime doesnt occur without being labeled deviant first fails to address primary deviance takes issue on how to fight crimeonly use law for most serious offenses deviance of the powerless, ignoring crime of the powerless Revising and Renewing the Labeling theory o Focus on informal labeling by friends, relatives, and loved ones This influence greatest during teen and childhood when self-concept is developing o Informal labeling can have negative consequnces Resentment Deviant self-image Continued deviance

o Official labeling promotes deviance and reduces it for others Continue deviance is more likely when offenders believe the police and the courts are treating them unfairly Especially likely with few social ties to family, employment, and other institutions o John Braithwaiteshamming aka social disapproval Disintegrative shamming (stigmatization)occurs when offenders are treated like outcast and no effort is made to forgive or involve them Promotes deviance because it.. Humiliates and angers offenders No legitimate opportunities Forces them to hang with criminal peers Reintegrative shamming occurs when efforts are made to bring offenders back into the community Reduces continued deviance Because it encourages offenders to feel ashamed Most common in communitarian societies

marked by a high degree if concern for others welfare o Japan is an example o Austrian and New Zeeland Research finds that legal sanction do contribute to additional delinquency o Restorative Justice Focuses on restoring the social bonds between he offender and the community (ancient times) In contrast to the retributive model guiding U.S crime policy Retributive emphasize punishment to the offender Restorative justice emphasizes the needs of the victim, community, and the need to reintegrate the offender back into the community Meetings betwwen all

Offender take responsibility for his/her actions Restorative justice has been tried in some parts of the US and in Australia, Canada, and Japan, and New Zeelandnative US and Canadasocialist nations Practices Victim impact panels Family group conferences Sentencing circles Citizen reparative boards

To new to tell if it really works but Victims more satisfied with criminal justices systems and less scared Experiments shows it works Used mostly on Juvys for minor offenses in the US Conflicts and Radical Theories Law is the key part of the struggle between the powerful intrest and the powerless o To preserve their dominance the powerful use law to control the powerless Consensus and Conflict Perspective in Sociology o Division is sociology between consensus(functional) perspective and conflict perspective Consensus perspective stresses that social institutions help create a stable society (durk) Conflict perspective stresses that social institutions serve the interest of the powerful in society and are dysfunctional for many other members of society Conflict theory form conflict tradition in sociology Karl Marx, friefrivh enfles, and max weber Distguied class based on the owenership and means of production land tech., factoires, tools, etc Bourgeois the ruling class and the proletariat the working class Continued dominance or overthrow

Weber recognized status groups with differnet amounts of power from Economic Religion Ethnicity Residence Other noneconomic factors Conflict Perspective in Criminolgy o 60s and 70s civil rights, vitenamsaw laws as a way to oppress blacks and anti-war people o began to wonder if law and the cjs was a way to oppress and otherwise harm the powerless o conflict theory (more weber)- consider crime and law the result of conflict among various groups of people not just economic classes. Austin T. Turkss criminality and legal order Argued the powerful impose the label of crime on the powerless to help reinforce their deviant power Developed a theory of criminalization that spelled out how criminal labels are applied Thorsten Sellin and George Vold Culture Conflict Behaviors acceptable in immigrant culture are not acceptable in the US culture Ex. Sicilian father Vold group conflict theory of crime Groups with the legislative power have the power toa decide which behaviors will be illegal and that crimes stems form conflict among various intrest groups Gangs arise from conflict between young people values and those of the adult culture Especially relevant for crimes involving Political protest Labor disputes Ethnical and racial hostilities

o Evaluation of Conflict Helps explains the origins of some criminals laws and types of crime Esp. for crimes committed as part of a social movements, and other consensual crimes where people have many different views (abortion, drugs and alch ex.) Less relevant for convetial street crimes like; Murder Assault Robbery and burgulary Beause mwant to protect all not justthe powerful Shares labeling theories views on the disparities of labeling Jsoeph R. Gusflied study book symbolic crusade The temperance attack on drinking is a symbolic attack against poverty, religion, immigrants status, and urban residence

Radical Theories in Criminology o More Marxian than Webrian o Views laws and crime as a result of conflict between the capitalist and the workers or the ruling class and the poor. o Called, critical, new, radical, dialectical, socialist, an Marxist criminology o Marx and Engles on Crime and law Wrote very little about crime and law Law helps the rule class in at least two ways It emphasizes and preserves private property, almost all of which belongs to the ruling class It gives everyone various legal rights and therefore appears to provide equal justice for everyone Obscures the true nature and extent of the oppression of the powerless Contrasting views

Crime stemming from misery accompanying capitalism Crime as a political rebellion Lumpenproletrait are the social scum, the positively rotting mass Vagabonds Pimps Hoes Pickpockets Etc,

o Willem Bogner: Capitalism, Egoism, and Crime Boger Criminality and Economic Conditions Cultural emphasis on altruism characterized percapitalist and agricultural societies Everyone was poor and look out for each others well-fare Development of capitalism led to a very different situation Economic competition Your success comes at the expense of someone elses failure Leads to egoism and greed that makes people willing to break the law for economic gain and other advantages if it hurts other people o True for all social classes not just the poor o But poor commit crime for economic

necessity o And the rich get away because the law is made to oppress the poor Crime would largely disappear under socialism Study found capitalism positively related to higher homicide rates o Jerome Hall: The Law of Theft

Theft, Law ,and, Society The modern concept of theft developed in England over 500 years ago England was emerging into an economic society form a agricultural one 1473 Carriers Case protected the mercantilism class interest o William Chambliss: The law of Vagrancy Vagrancy laws created in 1349 in England after the bubonic plague so land owners wouldn't have to pay higher wages to workers Made it a crime for people to beg and to move from place to place to find employment Increase labor force Criticized for overemphasizing the economic motivation of the vagrancy laws o Contemporary Radical Views on Crime and Law Major emphasis on the formation of law and the punishment of criminals More general Marxist theory Instrumental Marxism considers the ruling class a small, unified group that uses the law to dominate the poor and to advance its own interest Richard quinney Structural Marxism ruling class less unified than the instrumental theories statesthe ruling class disagrees over important issues and compete amongst themselves for political and economic power Civil liberties and unemployment insurance issues A common agenda 99% the wealth use their power and the legal system to protect their dominance and keep the poor and the people of color in their place the criminal law reflects the interest of the powerful and not those of the general public

criminals are normal people who commit crimes because they are poor harsh cjs will not reduce crime because it does not address the causes of crime it will only worsen the laws of the poor cjs must become fairer and and social economic reform must occur o Evaluation of Radical Criminology Sentimentality glorifying predatory crime by the poor Overlooks the oppressive nature of authoritarian nationspay attention to US and other democratic nations Utopian to think socialism will make crime disappear Exaggerates the importance of class and crime thus over looking other important factors Defense focusing on instrumental Marxist approach which have been replaced by structural views o Left Realism and Peacemaking criminology Left Ralism this approach was a response to the left idealism of Marxist approach who view street crime as a political rebellion and the results of alienation caused by capitalism Left realism states that crime causes real distress for poor, people of color, women of rape and family violenece. Crime prevention and control are essential Champion measures the same as liberal observers Improving sociecomnic contions Community policing Victim compensation Imprisonment only for criminals who pose a real threat to society Some left realist call for more punitive punishment and more police surveillance o Critics

To willing to inflict punishment as a tool of social justice and deflecting the blame of crime away for capitalism Peacemaking criminology Combine Gandhism, Marxism, Buddhism, and other humanistic strains of thought One of the many forms of suffering the characterize human existence To reduce suffering people must find non violent ways of resolving conflict(war and criem) and inner peace Cjy is to authoritarian and violent to reduce crime and advocate alet. Types of punishment such as restitution and community service

Feminist Theories An Overview of Feminist Perspectives in Criminology o Jody Miller and Christopher W. Willis Crime cannot be fully understood and explained without appreciating the importance of gender roles Feminist theorist should be uses to reduce gender inequality in the areas of crime in cjs as well as in larger society o Feminist scholars differ in the explanation for womens subordinate status Liberal feminist- gender differences in crime rates cause by gender differences in socialization and also call attention to discrimination in cjs Suggest change in socialization to reduce male crime Reforms in cjs to reduce gender discrimination Marxist Feminist- womens status result for the developed of capitalism which forced them to depend on men for economic support

Thought to increase the amount of rape and other vilence Radical Feminist- argue that patriarchy precedes capitalism and that gender relations are more important than class realtions Instead of viewing violence against women as a byproduct of capitalism seen as a weigh that men in all societies extend their domaince over women Social feminist- consider capitalism and patriarchy

equally important Interaction of class and gender relations affect the opportunities available to people Multicultural feminism-crime by and victimization by women of color can only be understood if we the intersections of gender race and ethnicity, and class The Scope of Feminist Theory of Crime o Feminists work in criminology address four areas The victimization of women Gender differences in crime explanations of women criminality Womens experiences and gender discrimination in the cjy o The Victimization of Women First work in th 70s focused on rape and domestic violence of women Began document the extent of these crimes and their and psyh. and bio. Consequences Stressed involvement of male intimates and other non-strangers Women not being blamed Girl sexual abuse a cause of girl and women law breaking o Gender Differences Gender-ratio issue seeks to understand why female rates of serious offending are so much lower than males

Structural theories doesnt account for differences why females living in same conditions commit less crimes than males General strain theory does shed some light Females less likely to react to strain with violence Social process Traditional theories help explain gender differences Masculinity and Crime Maleness and masculinity to be criminogenic conditions To reduce crime male socializations and notions of masculinity must be changed and male dominance reduced Apply to all crimes Womens low crime rate might be an unintended silver lining of their subordinate status, lack of freedom and opportunity and socialization into feminine values

o Explanations of Womens Criminality Generalizability issue Traditional theories of (male) crime can be applied to females Doing Gender Differences in the way males and females offend Miller St. Louis study Men robbed men instead of women and threaten their victims with guns and often hit them Women robbers often targeted women instead of men and rarely used a gun to rob themtypically hit, shoved, beat up o Used gun against male o Pretended to be sexually interested in the men

a gendered -stratified environment were women are perceived as weak and males are perceived as strong. Miller and Decker gang study female members less to enage in dangerous and violent activities like fighting when they fought usually didnt use guns reluctance to fight stem form their understanding of gender roles

Power-control Theory Gender process of family life that increase deliqeuccy John Hagn, Simpson, and Gills power-control theory Takes into account gender and class Patriarchal households- the father works outside the home and the mother stays at home to to take care of the children o Parents subscribe to traditional gender roles and teach these roles o Produce relatively high gender differences in offending Egalitarian household both mother and father work outside the home in positions of authority o Both sons and daughters receive less maternal supervisor o Are encouraged to be more independent o Mothers treat daughter like son increasing their chance for delinquency Gender differences in delinquency smaller

Working class part. Family control their children better than middle class egal. Part. However don't have greater gender differences in crime Ignore other crime causing factors, and assume mothers employment leads to greater delinquency Revised to say mothers employment decreases male delinquency o Women in Criminal Justice System Discrimination against offends in professional in cjs Three hypothesis on gender differences Chivalry hypothesis predicts that girls and women will be treated more lenient then boys and men The evil woman hypothesis predict the opposite because female crime is so rare so seen as terrible (conflict and labeling as well) Equal treatment predicts gender will not affect legal processing

Empirical test are inconsistent The most recent find that female are treated somewhat more punitively for minor crimes and somewhat less punitive for seious crimes 30% less likely Weak compared other variables Chivalry only toward white women Final Word on Feminism o 30-35yrs old

Class Notes
Why do we need to learn Theories? policy implication o push drug policies on teen the most o Cohen.Friday calls autism extreme male brain o males have less empathy then females o males prefer patterns toward face women do worst a spacial skillsmazes Gender

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however women who play video games do just as well o socialization may be the caused vs sex sex pure biology gender is a social construct o ex. pageant girl the differences of sex are social/cultural ingrained no biological differences (feminist theory) o why women arent ceos

o non humansno gender diffrences because they arent socialized into gender roles pain tolerance o men have significantly higher tolerance Feminist perspective Liberal feminism o Purely social differences in crime no bio differences Argumentif it was cool for women to commit crime then they would commit more of it However presently when two females fight they are considered trashy Stud vs slut Marxist feminism o women are forced to commit crime o capitalist system holds down women in a certain regards o males dominate the work force o resort to crime for money

o cant discriminate in hiring women in the US except job requirements would limit female firefight carry something heavy women cant be front line troops or special forces Radical feminism o Patriarchal society o Men need to maintain power over women o women were men's property a first only men can sue for loss of sex women can now Social feminism o Men are patriarchal system and capitalism combined cause when to be crime because of the resulting equality Prostitutes are an example o Multicultural feminism Social, class, race, and gender all combined Should examine gender with the other factors fl. can use drugs while pregnant blacks more likely to be prosecuted then white females who get rehab

Victimization of women o Women were ignored Gender differences in crime o Females less likely to commit Crime viewed as a musicality trait Societys restrictions stop crimes Explanations of women criminality o Do traditional theory apply to women? Hard to say because theories focused on young males When both parents work should be less difference in males and females criminally behavior crime than if only father works o Mother inside then she doesnt have time to commit crime Women in criminal justice system o More likely to be sexually abused by guards The sexual abuse by other women is extremely violent o women prison rapes revenged rape me are more power and sexually based

o women working in the cjs female lawyers are called things little girl or young lady, they are more likely to have objections denied black female judges who deal with black offenders are argued to be the best to deal with black males taught to respect older females judges harsh on black male offenders female experts are more likely to have questions asked to them like have you ever been raped? don't get offensive but be assertive know one cared about women in the cjs until the feminist theory came around in the 70s victims more likely to be sexually abused patriarchal society men run thingswhy women commit crime matriarchal society run by women o margret meednot good research women expert are held down o ask questions like have you ever been raped to react defensively but be assertive End of Monday

Relativist definition what people do is subjective to the culture benovelt sexism o china doll deviance is not a property of behavior but the result of how others regard the behavior o relativist- not real a deviant behavior how others view the behavior deviant labels o if you call someone deviant then they are going to act that wayex. The saints and the rednecks o people in power impose definitions of deviance on behaviors committed by people without power people in power also impose the rules so people in power can keep the power o labeling juvy delinquent

once someone committed a status offense they are labeled as delinquent so what is the point of not being a delinquent mostly focuses on minor crime and minor offenses ( criticism ) if you label someone it is going to effect them for the rest of their lives not true, but has led to some policy changes status offense and delinquent critiques research fails to consistently support its arguments overly passive view of individuals views the individuals of not being able to control own destiny it fails to explain primary deviance ( committing first criminal act) secondary deviance after being labeled from primary crime, continue to commit crime

ignores crime by the powerful jfk ties to organized crime, and bush Clinton, and Regan Consensus vs Conflict theory perspective liberal vs conservative (kinda) consensus o strong social institution is needed to promote social well being church school gov. conflict o power social institution hold down the powerless o dont want anyone to be powerful.redistribute wealth o economic and race o Marx and the conflict tradition powerful gov holds people down o Sellins culture 19conflict

laws put in place by the powerful (Americans) my end up violating norms and laws because they are different from your culture ex. Muslims cant wear full head scarf in France ex. case law in the us if you can demonstrated that it is part of the culture Vietnamese family came to the us got a puppy from co-worker and then they cooked the dog Americans killing cow in India

guy went to get picture developed pic of him kissing sons penis o ex. People of power saying this doesnt happen o volds group conflict hold down groups of people not individuals people in political power hold down people who arent in political power went beyond traditional Marxist growth youth gains o youths and adult values differ

Radical theories know namesbonger ch.8 start with cotanent skip drift and neutralization and control balance theory added more than sex and gender that's not in the book ch.9 skip Turks theory \ racial just know bogner is one of the theorist, Chambliss labeling

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