Chapter 11

Question 1

Cultural conflict theory: Thorstein Sellin (1938)

Answer 1

In complex societies, diverse cultural groups maintain distinct conduct norms or cultural rules governing appropriate conduct
Thus, there may be cultural conflict between the conduct norms of different cultural groups
e.g., norms of immigrant cultures could potentially come into conflict with the conduct norms of the established or dominant culture

Question 2

Cultural conflict theory

Answer 2

One sphere where culture conflict appears is in the legal sphere, especially criminal law
e.g., female genital mutilation, honour killings, marital rape, and forced marriage
Criminal norms: conduct norms codified into laws that represent the values of the dominant group
Crime is the result of conduct norms of one (dominant) cultural group being extended over a group with different conduct norms

Question 3

Group conflict theory: George Vold

Answer 3

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
“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)

Question 4

Two classes of group conflict can result in criminal behaviour

Answer 4

1. Crime occurs when there is a conflict between the behaviour of a minority group and the laws of the dominant majority
2. Crime occurs from conflict between competing interest groups vying for power

Question 5

Conflict theory: Richard Quinney

Answer 5

Social Reality of Crime (1970)
Focused on “segments of society” (social groupings) that attempt to secure their interests through criminal law
Quinney saw much inequality in decision-making of public policies and laws
Only some interest groups are sufficiently powerful to influence public policy

Question 6

Six propositions that make up Quinney’s theory

Answer 6

1. Crime is a product of legal definitions
2. Crime is behaviour that conflicts with the interests of segments that have the power to shape policy
3. Powerful segments also enforce and administer the law
4. People in less powerful segments of society are more likely to have their behaviour criminalized
5. 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

Question 7

Marxist Conflict Perspectives in Criminology

Answer 7

Marx himself wrote little on crime
Many criminologists believed that Marx’s work could help analyze the relationship between crime and the social world
Marxist theories focus not on individual pathologies but on social, political, and economic structures that give rise to crime
Marxist criminologists view conflict as rooted in the structure of capitalist society

Question 8

Marxist Perspectives on Crime

Answer 8

The political and economic structures of capitalism promote conflict
This precipitates conditions (e.g., unemployment) that allow 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
Marxist approach provides a framework to study the interrelations amongthe capitalist mode of production, the state, law, crime control, and crime

Question 9

Instrumental Marxism

Answer 9

Assumes the state and legal and political institutions are a direct reflection of the interests of the ruling/capitalist class
Law is equated 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 are instruments of the capitalist class

Question 10

Quinney’s (1974) critical Marxist theory of crime control:

Answer 10

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 to maintain and perpetuate the existing social and economic order
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, esp. 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

Question 11

Critiques of Instrumental Marxism

Answer 11

Wrongly portrays ruling class as homogeneous
Ignores constraints on the powers of the ruling class
Ignores legislation that is contradictory to the position of the powerful capitalist class
View that the economic base is the foundation of the superstructure is too deterministic

Question 12

Structural Marxism

Answer 12

Opposes 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)

Question 13

Structural Marxism

Answer 13

The state must have relative autonomy to mediate between divergent capitalist class factions
To preserve the long-term interests of the capitalist class
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

Question 14

Crimes of the powerless

Answer 14

Spitzer (1975): Marxian theory of deviance
Criminalization of behaviour is often directed at problem populations that arise in capitalist societies:
Surplus populations
Those who disturb capitalism, such as 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.

Question 15

Greenberg: juvenile delinquency

Answer 15

Juveniles 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

Question 16

Crimes of the powerful

Answer 16

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 other socially harmful behaviours

Question 17

Critiques of Structural Marxism:

Answer 17

Tendency toward circular reasoning
Too much emphasis on structure and not enough on human agency to shape and direct the social world
Exclusive focus on class relations has precluded other considerations, such as gender oppression and race oppression

Question 18

Left realism

Answer 18

Must pay attention to the serious harm generated by street crime, “working-class crime”
Crime is disproportionately distributed among the working class, women, and racial minorities 
The majority of working-class crime is intra-class
Victimization surveys help focus on and examine the problem of crime for the working class

Question 19

Left realism

Answer 19

Must develop a working-class criminology that examines and offers practical solutions to street crime
Must advance concrete and non-repressive crime control programs and policies:
Alternatives to prisons
Pre-emptive deterrence
Making police more accountable to the public;
“Harnessing the energies of the marginalized” to create a “politics of crime control”

Question 20

Critiques of Left Realism:

Answer 20

It is ahistorical: fails to take into account the economic, cultural , historical context in which crime takes place
It may “widen the net” of social control
It’s commonsense approach fails to develop a theoretical account