Lec 7 Flashcards
Conflict perspective
Assumes that societies are more divided by conflict than they are integrated by consensus
What do conflict theories do
Question the assumption that laws represent the interest of society as a whole. Instead state laws are made and endorsed those that are the most powerful or dominant.
4 Conflict theories
Cultural conflict theory
Group Conflict theory
Marxism
Left Realism
Cultural Conflict Theory :Sellin
Diverse cultural groups maintain distinct conduct norms, thus there may be a cultural conflict between conduct norms of different cultural groups
What is one sphere where culture conflict appears
In the legal sphere, especially criminal law
According to Sellin criminal norms are..
Conduct norms codified into laws that represent the values of the dominant group
Sellin’s cause of crime
Crime is the result of conduct norms of the dominant cultural group being extended over a group with different conduct norms
Group Conflict Theory: Vold
Law making is a political process involving conflicts between competing interest groups
Group conflict can result in criminal behavior
Crime occurs when there is a conflict between the behavior of a minority group and the laws of the dominant majority
Crime occurs from conflict between competing interest groups vying for power
Marxism or Marxist Theories of Crime
Focused on social, political, and economic structures that give rise to crime
Stated that law and crime should be studied in connection with the whole of society and particularly the economic sphere
Instrumental Marxism
The state and legal and political institutions are a direct instrument of control of the ruling/capitalist class
Who controls the formation of law according to instrumental marxism
The ruling class, and the focus is on the coercive nature of the law
The state and legal system are instruments of which class
The capitalist class
Richard Quinney says (6)
American society is an advanced capitalist economy
The state is organized to serve the interests of the dominant economic class
Criminal Law is an instrument of control of existing social and economic order
Crime control is realized through state institutions and agencies controlled by the political class
The contradiction of advanced capitalism require that the subordinate classes remain oppressed through the legal system
Only with the collapse of capitalist society and creation of a new society based on socialist principles will there be an end to crime
Case of Ferguson, Missouri
Town is 67 percent black but very high numbers of crime is put against them
Over policing was occurring (people were being charged for relatively minor issues such as manner of walking in roadway)
Black residents were 68 percent less likely to have their court case dismissed
The Department of Justice found that law enforcement in Ferguson was not to protect public safety but to facilitate fine collection
Henry Davis
Beaten by 4 police officers and charged with destruction of official property for bleeding on uniforms
Critiques of Instrumental Marxism
Wrongly portrays the 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
Overly deterministic in the view that the economic base is the foundation of the superstructure
Structural Marxism
Even though powerful capitalists influence the lawmaking or criminalization processes, the state has some degree of control and independence over them (relative autonomy)
Laws not representing the immediate interests of the capitalist class
-The state creates laws meant to curb capital but are ineffective in design and implementation
-Laws that benefit the less powerful reflect the need to develop widespread consent for existing social order
What must the state have to mediate between opposing capitalist class faction to preserve the long-term interests of the capitalist class
Relative autonomy
Spitzer-Marxian theory of deviance
Criminalization of behavior is directed at problem populations that arise in capitalist societies
Greenberg-Juvenile Delinquency
Juveniles as a class are excluded from access to income and become a surplus population
Delinquency occurs because the desire to participate in activities and the lack of legitimate means to finance these activities
Crimes of the powerful
Profit maximization creates a strong motivation for corporations to commit crimes and enact other socially harmful behaviors
Structural Marxism critiques
Too much emphasis on structure and not enough on humans ability to shape and direct the social world
Exclusive focus on class relations has precluded other considerations, such as gender oppression and race oppression
Left Realism
Emphasizes the need to examine the square of crime
The relationship between
offender
victim
police
public
Left realism test
Used crime survey of low income communities to measure working class victimization
Found that crime is disproportionately distributed among the working class, women, and racial minorities
Victimization surveys help us
Focus on and examine problems in the working class
Implication of left realism
Crime is a real problem for the working class and other people on the margins of society
Advocates for human crime control policies and for making the justice system more accountable to the people
Conflict theories of crime-Critiques
Too much emphasis on the divisions of society
Class conflict is not always static
Classless of consensus society is a utopia
