Postmodernist Perspective Flashcards
How do postmodernists suggest approaching crime?
They are critical of big theory’s of crime, preferring to look at the unique nature of criminal acts, they believe crime is a social construction.
What does Smart argue?
Traditional approaches to crime all adopt a version of povitivsm which postmodernism rejects.
What does transgressive mean?
Challenging socially accepted forms of behavior.
What do Henry and Milovanovic argue about harm?
They take a transgressive approach, crime should be approached as something which causes harm to others. There are two types of harm: harms of reduction and harms of repression.
What are harms of reduction?
Henry and Milovanovic say it is when power is used to cause the victim to experience immediate loss or injury.
What are harms of repression?
Henry and Milovanovic say it is when power is used to restrict further human development including threatening human dignity and a lack of respect such as sexual harassment and hate crimes.
What do Henry and Milovanovic argue about causes of crime?
Each criminal act is unique, reforms such as changes in the law will not effect crime as responses to it should be local and individual. Society is now categorised by individualism so meta narratives no longer apply to people, as crimes are a one off event the causes of crime are undiscoverable.
What do McDevitt and Levin argue?
Some perpetrators of hate crime derive joy from inflicting pain on those who they perceive to be different from themselves.
What does Katz argue?
Crime is seductive, young males get drawn it not because of rejection but because it is thrilling.
What does Lyng argue?
Risk taking behaviour can be seen as edgework. There are some people who are predisposed to taking risks and who will get into crime just to get the thrill of it. This explains non utilitarian crimes such as joy riding and why crime isnt just present in one class.
What is a critism of Lyng?
There are legal ways of seeking thrills, so why do people chose to commit crimes.
What does Foucault point out?
Surveillance is pernetrating ever more aspects of our daily lives, providing round the clock surveillance such as CCTV and number plate recognition. This promotes conformity as there is always a fear of being watched.
How many security cameras are there per person in the UK?
1 camera for every 13 people.
What does Lea point out as a positive of postmodernisms approach to crime?
It considers the increase of informal control mechanisms that are coming to dominate instead of the central state such as private security firms controlling surveillance in shopping centers.
What does Lea point out as a negative of the postmodernist approach to crime?
She says that it is regressive, it denies the possibility of being able to change unequal and unjust society’s.
