Critical Criminology Flashcards
What are the key readings?
Cockbain, Catello + Young
What are the key points from Cockbain?
Disadvantaged groups are often the target of far right ‘weaponisation’ p.4
The belief that ‘Asian/Muslim/Pakistani’ men groom white girl (form of sexual abuse)
The 4 main reasons: ‘media, politicians, the far Right and ‘special interest groups.
Often in reports (Quilliam’s for example) there are ‘obvious biases’ (p.10) and there is blame placed on the ‘‘regressive left’’ (p.40)
Often the use of racialised terminology from politicians and the media that often attempts to villainise Asian men
What are the key points from Catello?
Early critical criminology in the US was an ‘activism movement’ p.229
Docus on ‘radical politics, grassroots and social movements, and civil and human rights’ p.229
Berkeley school was criticised due to the attempt to ‘reconstruct the historical development of critical criminology p.230
Political struggles and cynicism p.230 towards the government post Vietnam war led to ‘developments in politics and civil society’ p.231
Critical crim of the 1970s was different from other criminology theories was how it addressed ‘the role of macro-social forces such as capitalism, racism, sexism and neo-colonialism as causes of crime and impediments to justice’ p.232 (Michalowski, 1996)
Platt (1974) believes that ‘historical research’ links to activism as we can find out the ‘strategies of resistance’ and relate them to the present day p.233
There is a ‘symbiotic relationship between activism and history’ p.241
What are the key points from Young?
The social and political context for radical criminology
The unflawed underdog’= ‘tendency to idealise oppressed groups’ and not see the anti-social behaviour’
‘Unwillingness to deal with positivism’
‘Unwillingness to deal with statistics’
‘Unwillingness to deal with reform’
Advantages of radical criminology
‘It is not politically constraint’ ( can see the ‘causality of crime’ + hold the admistration of justice accountable for endemic problems’ p.175
Introduction of ‘politics and morality into criminology’ p.175
The Emergence of Admistrative Criminology
Admistrative is are ‘relatively unimportant or politically impossible to tackle’ p.176
Admistrative crime is due to a ‘double failure of orthodox criminology’ p.176
What does critical thinking in crim do?
Take the perspective of the marginalised and promote inclusion and equality
What is the focus of critical thinking in criminology?
The harms caused by the CJS and state corporations
Such as laws and actions that lead to racial + gender discrimination + economic inequality
What are we encouraged to do in criminology?
To think of crime as something done by lower class people
High class are good at shielding crime
What are the harms in criminology?
Fraud, terrorism, human trafficking, human right abuses
What are the key criminological perspectives
Classical + positivist
What are the two views of the basis of social order?
Consensus view
Conflict view
What is the consensus view?
Society consists of groups who share communal norms & values
Laws are created to express these shared values
What is social order based on in the consensus view?
Based in widespread integration and stability
What is society characterised by in the consensus view?
Harmony
Integration
Stability
How does social change occur in the consensus view?
Slow and orderly via relevant social institutions
What is a criticism of social change in the consensus view?
There have been many crisis such as the 2008 bank crisis
What is the conflict view?
Society consists of groups with competing values & interests
Laws are created to further the interests of the dominant group
What is social order based on in the conflict view?
Based on coercion & control
What is society characterised by in the conflict view?
By conflict, struggle, & volatility
How does social change occur in the conflict view?
Rapidly & disorderly as subordinate groups overthrow dominant ones
What are criminologists critical of and by whom?
Domination, inequality, injustice + discrimination
The state, capitalism, patriarchy, CJS
What do critical criminologists believe in?
Social order is based on conflict between groups
Origins of deviant and criminal behaviour are found in unequal power dynamics and social inequalities that expose less powerful criminalisation + harm (labelling theory)
What is the conflict perspective?
Nature + purpose of legal and CJS
What does society consist of in the conflict perspective?
Groups of varying levels of power
Those who win the conflict get control of law & coercive power of state
What do laws focus on in the conflict perspective?
Behaviours of socio-economically disadvantaged
It benefits those in power so they maintain dominance
What does economic organisation influence in the Marxism perspective?
Social life- social relations, law, culture + ideology
Behaviour + activities of individuals
What does the capitalist mode of production result in?
Class struggle between bourgeoisie who own factories, tools (means of production) & proletariat who produce goods & services
What does capitalism do to the working class?
Exploits, impoverishes + restricts their ability to resist or change the system
What are the key points of how marxism approaches crime?
Capitalist laws facilitate & conceal crimes of domination & oppression
Crime is functional to capitalism
Crime is a response to capitalism & its contradictions
How does capitalist laws facilitate & conceal crimes of domination & oppression?
Focus on behaviour of subordinated class deflects attention from the crimes of powerful
E.g. corporate crime + political
How is crime is functional to capitalism?
Crime provides work (for criminal justice agents) & legitimises the operation & expansion of justice system
How is crime is a response to capitalism & its contradictions?
Capitalism views inequality as a driving force
Crime is a rational response to the structural position of poor under capitalism
What is Bonger (1916) key points?
Defining characteristic of primitive societies is altruism
Defining characteristic of modern capitalist societies is egoism
What occurs in modern capitalist societies according to Bonger?
Basis of social injustice and unequal distribution of wealth
Leads to social irresponsibility & crime
What is a challenge to ruling ideology in political struggles?
Suffragette movement
What is the focus of conflict theory in the US?
Behaviour of the law
Crime is a by-product of group conflict & an exercise of power
What are the key points from Quinney (conflict theory)?
Society characterized by diversity, conflict, coercion & change
Crimes are labelled behaviours that conflict with interests of groups with power to shape policy
What is the main point from Chambliss (1964)
Laws change to protect new vested interests as these emerge
What occurred in the 1960-70s?
Rapidly changing world; questioning of institutions + government
What do conflict theories of deviance do?
Reject idea of social consensus over norms & values
What do critical criminologists focus on?
Combination of Marxism & interactionist approaches
Focus & origin of deviance
What is the assumption that critical criminologists make?
Mainstream criminology serves the state but fails to challenge power & authority
What is new criminology?
Powerful alternative to conservative mainstream criminology in UK & US
A focus on criminals’ relationships to existing structures of power, domination, & authority
What were the focuses in the 1968 National Deviancy Conference?
Focus on state as apparatus of social control
Importance of economy & class relations
Struggles & inequalities between classes
Concern about selectivity & ineffectiveness of CJS
What are the critiques of traditional marxism?
Oversimplified
Deterministic
Who spoke of the limitations of Marxism and Interactionism?
Taylor et al 1973
What is marxism concerned with?
Underlying political economy of crime
Structural origins of power between social groups
What are the limitations of Marxism?
No examination of way individual choices & social responses affect outcomes
What is interactionism
A labelling process through societal reaction to acts
Concerned with power + power relations
What are the limitations of interactionism?
No examination of way labelling processes are structurally determined
Who looked at the explanatory agenda?
Taylor et al (1973)
What is the explanatory agenda?
Wider origins of deviant acts
Immediate origins of the deviant act
The actual act
Immediate origins of societal reaction
Wider origins of deviant reaction
Outcome of social reaction on further action
Nature of deviant process
What is wider origins of the deviant act
Explore structural-level explanations
Traditional Marxism & exploitative nature of capitalism Offenders may consciously choose
What is the immediate origins of the deviant act?
Explore why act took place and how the structural demands reacted against
What is the actual act?
Explore why this particular act: theorise complexities involved in the act & meanings it has for individual; link beliefs & actions
What is immediate origins of societal reactions?
Explore different responses of others to the act: immediate interpretation (by family, police) will impact on treatment of individual
What is the wider origins of deviant reaction?
Explore background to responses: sources of reactions; who sets the rules & wields the power
What is the outcome of social reaction on further action?
Explore deviant’s response to label: apply labelling theory plus role of individual agency
What is the nature of the deviant process?
Combine agency & structure in a holistic approach
What is the mugging crisis of 1972-73? (Hall et al 1978)
Robbery with violence
Came to signify (alleged) crimes by young black men
Led to moral panic & racist labelling
Some teenage “muggers” handed exemplary sentences (20 years)
Racialised scapegoating
Alienation of black communities
Media concealed the econ causes of crime
What is the critiques of new criminology?
Strays too far from Marxism
Gender blind= no discussion of the patriarchy
What does Young say about new criminology?
It is too idealistic
Views crime as revolutionary activity
Romanticises criminals as socially-deprived heroes fighting capitalism
Neglects victims & genuine harms of street crime
Ideas unsupported by empirical research
What is left realism?
Capitalism not only source of crime; emphasis on practicality & social change
What is the focus of left realism?
Ordinary (street) crimes that affect ordinary people
What are the causes of crime according to left realism?
Relative deprivation
Marginalisation
Subculture
What is relative deprivation?
Media presents wealth & success as ‘normal’
What is marginalisation?
Economic, social, political; leads to resentment & frustration
What is subculture?
Deviance as collective response to above
What are the key responses to crime according to left realism?
Social crime prevention
Community crime prevention
Improving policing
What is SCP?
Identify those at risk & intervene early
What is community crime prevention?
Involve & improve communities – jobs, living standards, facilities
What is improving policing?
Community-based approach to improve participation & confidence
What is the future of critical criminology?
Continued focus on crimes of the powerful; corporate & state criminality
Patriarchy in a global context
Economic marginalization & criminal behaviour
Racialisation of crime & punishment
Relationship between crime, crime control & culture
Linking consumerism & crime
