Exam 2 Flashcards
What are the origins of theoretical perspectives?
Natural law, Functionalist( Social Consensus), Conflict
What are contemporary theoretical perspectives?
Critical legal, critical race, feminist legal
What is natural law?
Argues that laws are part of reality discovered by humans; criminal laws=laws of physics
Where are mandates from with natural law?
Religion or philosophy
Why was Functionalist perspective created?
Developed in response to uncertainty of French Revolution
Focuses on social order and emphasizes how parts of society contribute to the overall society (views society as a system of interdependent and interrelated parts)
Functionalist
What are Manifest Functions?
Anticipated or intend consequences of social institutions
What are the types of Functions ?
Latent, Dysfunctions
Unintended or unrecognized consequences of social instituons
Latent Functions
Aspects of society that threaten to disrupt social stability and order
Dysfunctions
What is Deviance a form of?
Dysfunction
Importance of Deviance according to Durkheim
Clarifies social norms, increases conformity, strengthens social bond, positive social change
Assumes most people that regardless of demographics hold similar social and political views
Consensus Theory
most of the members of society agree on what is good and cooperate to achieve it
Consensus Theory
Originated in the world of Marx & Engles
Conflict
Portrays society as constantly changing and marked by conflict
Conflict
Argues that it is the conflict that occurs between the social classes that is the key force for societal change?
Marx for Conflict
Proposes that society is composed of diverse groups with conflicting values and interests with differential access to wealth, power, and prestige
Conflict
Asserts that laws are generated by those with power (money, physical strength, authority, technology/weapons)
Conflict
These laws are often created to disadvantage those not in power and to maintain the control of those in power
Conflict
What are the differences in Conflict views?
Instrumental, Structuralist, Dialectic
What is Instrumental Conflict view?
The ruling class, as a collective, control the lower classes by controlling the state
What is the critique of Instrumental conflict view
Ruling class doesn’t always agree in important issues
What is structuralist conflict views?
The ruling class will compete with each other for short term advantages even at the expense of the larger society; the state is relatively autonomous
What is the critique of structuralist conflict view
Disbelief that the lower class make substantive gains in society
What is dialectic conflict views?
Social change is achieved though class conflict and that there are real gains by the lower classes
Viewed law as a major contributor to social inequality: Combined verrous perspectives and addressed the nature and quality of legal education
Critical Legal Studies
Law is comprised of beliefs, values, and symbolism
Law is Ideology
What is Legal Education
Information and norms of the law are transmitted to the next generation via the legal education system
What are critical race general assumptions?
AMERICAN society is inherently biased toward whites and te racism is institutionalized within the law
What are assumptions of Feminist Legal Theory
A women’s experience differ from that of their make counterparts; A woman’s position in most social situations is unequal to that of her male counterpart; Because the laws were predominantly written by men they inherently favor men
Two types of Feminists?
Liberal and Critical
What are the different methods?
Lumping it, avoidance, coercion, negotiations, mediation, arbitration, adjudication
What is lumping it?
Letting it go
What is avoidance
Removing self from the situation
What is coercion?
Threats or social pressure to stop undesirable behavior
What is negotiations
Private parties coming to a compromise on their own
What is mediation?
A neutral third party leads negotiations between disputants; disputants come to solution; If either side is unhappy they can withdraw or decline
What is arbitration?
A neutral third party comes up with a solution; disputants agree to abide by solution prior to arbitration
What is adjudication?
A judge acts as the third party; formal legal proceedings, disputants cannot withdraw once it has began
What are societal factors of Dispute settlements
Social relationships; Power & Inequality; Legal culture
What are Individual factors of dispute settlements?
Nature of relationships; power difference in the relationship; personality; sociodemographic
Parts of legal consciousness?
Sexual harassment; disability
What is the History of litigation?
The idea that the courts are clogged with frivolous lawsuits; developed by marketing companies for large businesses who’s goal is to limit an individual legal recourse against them; as a result over the past 25 years there has been a major amount of tort reform
What is alternative dispute resolution?
Current preference in the legal system for the use of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration over adjudication as a way to lessen the case load of the civil courts; issues when it is used in cases where violence has been committed (i.e. domestic abuse cases)
What is incapacitation?
Removing criminals from society to prevent more crime and punishment for having committed crimes
What is an example of Deterrence
Punishment’s Effect
What is absolute deterrence
Completely stops crime
What is marginal deterrence?
Increase in punishment= less crime
What is general deterrence
Stopping general society from committing crime
What is a specific deterrence
Stops repeat offending (recidivism)
What are types of offenses?
Instrumental, Expressive, High Commitment, Low Commitment, Public, Private
What is instrumental offenses?
Material morve & Highly planned
What is expressive offensive
Emotionally driven
What is high commitment?
High skill level; drug involvement; less likely to be deterred
What is low commitment offenses
Low skill level, not involved regularly in serious crime, more likely to deterred
What is apart of public offenses
Crimes committed in public “street crime, prostitution”
What is apart of private offenses
White collar crime and intimate partner violence
What are other reasons for crimes?
Hubris, Drug/Alcohol Impairment, Involvement
What is Hubris
Criminals believing their plan is foolproof
What is drugs role in crime
50% of inmates interviewed reported using alcohol and drugs at the time of their crimes
