New Forms of Criminological Knowledge Flashcards
What are different ways of studying race?
- Race as a variable for studying rates of offending & victimisation
- Race as discourse, as part of the referential framework through which labels work
- Racial capitalism, capitalism is not neutral but works through race and division
- Critical Race Theory
What are the different ways of studying gender?
-Social Reproduction Theory
-Intersectionality
-Studying as a variable of more qualitatively
-Queer Criminology
-Feminist Epistemology
What are some key takeaways from Parmar et al?
- Criminology does not focus on race’s complex material and symbolic manifestations in the intersection with crime
- Seems to turn away from race, idea of being colourblind
- There is an unconscious bias to exclude race, but racialise certain crimes (e.g. violent street crime) but not higher crimes like WCC
- Hall et al is a good example for how criminology should restructure itself
What did Hall et al find in Policing the Crisis?
-Focuses on the ‘growing’ number of muggings in the 1970s
-Shows that the statistics do not support this idea of an increased number
-Instead, mugging was a label transposed from the USA, where the crime connected social ideas such as black social militancy and the growth of black ghettos on white areas
-Mugging was therefore a label given to the black youth, condensed ideas of race, age and crime and was simply a moral panic
-Labels are important as they ‘assign events to a context’
What is the significance of the 2011 London Riots?
-Could be seen as transposing Hall et al’s idea about labelling
-The idea of the rioter was the black male youth, ignored the causes of such riots
-Again, we could see ideas of race, social class and gender being condensed to create an idea of a criminal
-Could be argued as a moral panic, incidents were not as extreme as first made out
How does this analysis compare with the 2024 riots?
-Media reportage was less severe than in 2011, less focus on the race of individuals, called things such as gatherings, disturbance etc.
-There was a clear racial element to the riots, since the original issue and target was immigration into the UK, seems strange same consideration was not given
-Feels like a reinforcement of power, we should be aiming to destigmatise crime and show that the rioter can be anyone
What is intersectionality?
Kimberle Crenshaw
-Issues of race, gender, etc. are often overlapping yet where an issue arises concerning multiple of these there its a lack of social justice and recognition of such
-DeGraffenried Case, Black woman was discriminated against as both a woman and black person but was not able to rely on this since the company hired white women and black men
How is intersectionality useful and what are its limits?
-Creates the idea of the biggest loser, Crenshaw makes the example of the basement being stacked on top of one another, who is the person we listen to who is left out by criminal justice?
-How do we limit the individual circumstances? May go to far where a theory is too specific and does not relate to enough people
-New way of thinking about and framing theory work for criminology, consideration of different positions rather than starting from the position we are in
What is racial capitalism?
Kelley
-Idea that gender and race are not incidental to capitalism but developed as part of its theory
-Therefore, in western society there is a tendency to differentiate based on these factors which can limit people in circumstances
What is epistemology?
The theory of knowledge, more precisely questioning where knowledge comes from, who validates it and why we consider it to be useful
What is black feminist epistemology?
-Kuhn challenges how scientific knowledge develops, rather than being linear it undergoes periodic paradigm shits
-Black feminist epistemology focuses on the idea that black feminist knowledge previously had to fit the standard of the white man, which makes it untrue to them
-Focuses on the lived experiences of black women, the use of dialogue and sisterhood and the ethics of caring to create better knowledge of their issues
Why is epistemology / black feminist epistemology useful?
-Builds bridges between different groups
-It is not the case that the most marginalised group has the best knowledge, but they have the best for that field which can give a useful insight to others
‘Knowledge without wisdom is adequate for the powerful, but wisdom is essential to the survival of the subordinate’
What does Alexander think the reason for mass incarceration of black people in the US?
-Argues the form of oppression and discrimination has changed, used to be slavery, then Jim Crow and is now mass incarceration
-Belief that racism doesn’t exist, however we now simply use the justice system to label people of colour as criminal
-E.g. war on drugs disproportionality attacks black people despite similar use by all groups
-Argues this is the new Jim Crow
How does Gilmore view mass incarceration?
-Talks about not only what happens in prison but the carceral geography of prison, people are torn from families creating further social issues
-We should understand mass incarceration more in the political and social context it happened, as a response of the government to the surplus, labour, state capacity and finance
What are the similarities between Alexander and Gilmore?
- Both believe prison is about social control rather than actually dealing with crime rates
- Both think prison is harmful not only to the person in prison but the communities they come from
What is the theory of abolitionism and how would this work?
-Lamble thinks our society is built on carceral ideas, there needs to be a rethinking of this
-It is not just about getting rid of prisons but what we build in their place
-It is an on-going process, involves undoing the cultural norms and mindsets that trap us
What are the issues with theories of abolitionism?
-Can it be theoretically persuasive? Depends on the context, can humans truly exist without some use of force, would it apply to all? Does it matter what the current system is?
-Regardless of these problems, it seems also politically impossible, not clear how this would be implemented, if people would listen, timing and cultural differences, etc.
What is carceral feminism?
Feminist activism that relies on the criminal justice system to address gender and feminist ideas, e.g. the use of prison sentences for sexual offences
What are the problems with carceral feminism and what is the alternative approach?
-Doesn’t recognise the personal nature of some of these sexual crimes, what does a woman actually want
-Issues discussed with prison and race may be made worse under carceral feminism
-Alternative is transformative and restorative justice, these can help the victim come to terms and rebuild communities
What are the issues with this discussion of carceral feminism and restorative justice?
-Can restorative justice always work?
-Seems to pit feminists against each other, rather than recognising the true problem of the state and the failure of their institutions, it is made to seem like women are making the wrong choice
-Restorative justice is not necessarily anti-state or calling for complete abolition (Terwiel)
What is the geopolitics of knowledge?
-Idea that there is a bias in academia, most work is published in the global north and western countries
-Aas thinks this creates a knowledge imbalance, in which theories are attempted to be transposed onto rural areas despite having urban beginnings
What is Southern Criminology?
-There is a difference in how we value knowledge from the global north and the global south
-All knowledge is particular, yet global northern knowledge is not thought to be
-Therefore, southern criminology is not an attack but an attempt to create new knowledge that better applies to different communities
-Aims to decolonise criminology from its northern roots
-Carrington, Hogg & Sozzo
What can southern criminology contribute to wider criminology knowledge?
History:
Extending the history of criminal justice/punishment (beyond the nation state)
Penal transportation as a form of empire building
Policy Imports:
Women-Led Police Stations such as those in Brazil and Argentina from the 1980s, may be useful for our own system
