Explain the Consensus Perspective and the Conflict Perspective (how they’re different)
Consensus perspective: law comes from mutually agreed upon societal norms and values
- belief that the state protects the general public interest
Conflict perspective: the social norms and values codified into law are endorsed by the more powerful or dominant groups in society (groups with power control the state) –> questions the assumption that laws represent the interests of society as a whole
*assumes societies are more divided by conflict than they are integrated by consensus
Explain the idea of false consciousness
A way of thinking that prevents a person from perceiving the true nature of their social or economic situation
- ex. Republicans in US –> poor ppl voting against their own interests like voting for tax cuts for the rich
- “Dying of Whiteness” author discussing a man who refused to sign up for Obamacare even while dying of Hep C.
- support for guns and tax cuts in Kansas leading to higher dropout rates which decreases life expectancy
Explain Thorsten Sellin’s Cultural Conflict Theory
- Sellin argues that in culturally homogenous societies, ppl subscribe to similar values and norms so that conduct norms will reflect a societal consensus
- In more complex, heterogenous societies with urbanization and industrialization, societal consensus is less likely and cultural conflict rises
*he argues that the social values that receive the protection of the law are those valued by dominant cultural groups
*crime is an expression of culture conflict in which individuals who act according to the conduct norms of their own cultural group find themselves in violation of the conduct norms of the dominant group that are enacted into law
What are conduct norms, criminal norms, and what is cultural conflict? (relating to Sellin’s theory)
conduct norms : specific rules or norms of appropriate behaviour that are generally agreed upon by members of the social group
criminal norms: when conduct norms are codified into laws that represent the values of the dominant group
cultural conflict: theory that attempts to explain certain types of criminal behaviour resulting from a conflict between the conduct norms of divergent cultural groups
Like strain theories, cultural conflict and conflict theories are _________ theories
structural
What kind of situations do cultural conflict theories explain well?
*explain situations of conquest or colonization very well and to immigration where you bring your values with you
ex. honour killings –> canadian daughters becoming “too canadian” - brings shame to the family
What is differential social organization and differential association?
organization - deviance because of the way society is organized (structural)
association - process theory dealing with associations - deviance because of social interaction and communication with others
Explain Sutherland’s cultural deviance theory
- early societies were homogeneous
- as societies grew there was differentiation into subgroups that had different values
- crime resulted when one subgroup had the power to extend its values over other groups
- crime concentrated in lower classes because they had different values
Explain George Vold’s Group Conflict Theory
2 classes of group conflict?
Attempts to explain certain types of criminal behaviour as the result of conflict between diverse interest groups
- different interest groups take different positions on the development and enforcement of particular laws
- many interest groups do not have the broader societal interest as their focus but rather their own issues
Two classes of group conflict that can result in criminal behaviour:
1. Conflict between the behaviours of minority groups and the legal norms of the dominant majority, which are established in law
ex. a deliquent gang
2. Conflict between competing interest groups who are vying for power
ex. political revolution of protest movements whose aim is to direct political reform
What are the critiques of Vold’s Group conflict theory
- only politically or ideologically motivated crimes can be said to fit the model well - very narrow application
- most crime is intra-group rather than intergroup
In cultural deviance and conflict theories, how is deviance viewed?
Deviance is seen as natural - the deviant is rly a conformist who is living up to the standards of his or her group (Miller’s view of the deviant as Eagle Scout)
*doesn’t fit with data - delinquents are not the cream of the lower class crop
What are some critiques of cultural conflict theories
- critics have said the theory doesn’t appreciate how other factors like inequality affect crime
- also doesn’t account for consensus crimes that all groups disapprove of
What crimes do cultural deviance theory explain and not explain
Good explanation of crimes like drug use, civil disobedience, and corporate crime where there are large groups of people who support these activities
Not a good explanation for predatory offences where lower classes have higher rates of disapproval than others - or consensus crimes where most ppl agree they’re wrong
Explain the 2 current issues that interest groups are fighting about over food
- Canada Food Guide:
- Health Canada has made it more plant-based
- Agri-foods canada tried to get them to soften its language bc of the potential impact on food sales
- environmentalists are involved - Food labelling:
- Govt. and health groups wanted to put a stop sign on things that make up 15% or more of daily limits for fat, sugar, and sodium
- food and drink industry termed them ‘big, scary stop signs’
- current labelling is not clear or understandable
Explain Quinney’s Group Conflict Theory
Explains criminality as the result of conflict between groups, which is in line with Vold and Sellin –> Quinney’s focused more broadly on “segments” of society, which he defined as social groupings
- Quinney saw much inequality in decision-making of public policies and laws –> said only some interest groups are sufficiently powerful to influence public policy
- Quinney said the social reality of crime is a function of:
1. the formulation of criminal definitions
2. the application of criminal definitions
3. the development of behaviour patterns in relation to criminal definitions
4. the construction of criminal conceptions
Explain the Marxist Conflict Perspectives in Criminology
(5 points)
- Marx himself wrote little on the subject of crime - criminologists adapted his work
- Marxist theories focus not on individual pathologies, but on social, political, and economic structures that give rise to crime
- conflict is rooted in the very structure of capitalist society, particularly capitalist economic relations
- Marxist approach provides a framework to study the interrelations among the capitalist mode of production, the state, law, crime control, and crime
- explains a stratified society where the ruling class uses the law to: benefit themselves, impose their standards on society, protect their property, define anyone who threatens the status quo as criminal
Under capitalism, what are the two main groups involved in capitalist modes of production?
- The Bourgeoisie: the economically dominant class of people who own the means of production
- The Proletariat: those who have only their labour power to sell in exchange for wages (their livlihood)
*where one class is in a position of dominance over the other class in the economic sphere, social institutions will be organized according to the dominant class
What are the 6 ideas of Quinney’s critical Marxist theory of crime control?
- American society is based on an advanced capitalist economy
- the state is organized to serve the interests of the dominant economic class
- criminal law is an instrument of the state and ruling class for maintaining and perpetuating the existing social and economic order
- crime control in capitalist society is realized through institutions and agencies controlled by political elite and represents their interests
- the contradictions of advanced capitalism require that the subordinate classes remain oppressed by whatever means necessary, especially through the legal system
- only with the collapse of capitalist society and the creation of a new society, based on socialist principles, will there be a solution to crime
What is instrumental Marxism?
Assumes the state, legal, and political institutions are a direct reflection of the interests of the ruling/capitalist class
- criminal laws are created and enforced for the protection of the capitalist class (state is an instrument of capitalists)
- harmful actions of those with PWR are less likely to be criminalized (ex. workplace injuries caused by employer negligence)
What are the two major types of Marxist crime theories?
Instrumentalist Marxism
Structuralist Marxism
What are the critiques of instrumental marxism?
- the “ruling class” is assumed to be a homogenous and unified group
- ignores constraints on the powers of the ruling class
- unable to account for legislation that is not in the immediate interests of the ruling class, like health and safety legislation and employment standards
- overly deterministic in the view that the economic base is the foundation of the superstructure
What is Structural Marxism?
- opposes the instrumental Marxist assumption that the state is the direct servant of the ruling class
- instead, it argues that state institutions protect the long-term capitalist structure (to reproduce capitalist society)
- the state has a certain degree of independence from specific elites in the capitalist class (relative autonomy)
- many laws are enacted that don’t represent the immediate interest of the capitalist class
- various classes and fractions of classes are in competition so it’s impossible for one class to dominate the state –> but this still serves the long-term interests of capitalism (capitalists don’t win every battle but they do win every war)
What is relative autonomy?
Term used in the structural Marxist perspective to indicate that the state has a certain amount of independence from the capitalist class and is therefore able to enact laws that are not in the immediate interests of the capitalist class
What was Spitzer’s Marxian theory of deviance (crimes of the powerless)
Criminalization of behaviour is often directed at problem populations that arise in capitalist societies –> surplus populations or radicals
Problem populations become candidates for deviance processing when they disturb, hinder, or call into question capitalist modes of production, social conditions within capitalism, etc.
