RADICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CRIME AND SOCIETY

1. RADICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CRIME AND SOCIETY

3. Consensus Nature of crime unproblematic Definition unproblematic Seeks causal explanation-scientific method Social democratic-solutions within system CJS works for society within rule of law Progress through causal understanding – the better society Conflict Recognises partial nature of crime – crimes of the powerful Definition in the interests of the powerful Crime reflects wider/deeper social inequalities The system is part of the problem Agencies of social control work in the interests of the powerful Social constructionist or reactionist Utopian-major social changes Comparisons Consensus v Conflict Approaches

4. Radical Approaches • Many traditions, in the readings Chambliss, Classical Marxist • Non Marxist conflict approaches e.g. Dahrendorf • In term two – feminist perspectives • In relation to responses to crime – restorative justice including peacemaking stances • Today’s example is The New Criminology • Ensure you read a general chapter on radical approaches as part of this week’s work

5. The New Criminology by Taylor, Walton and Young 1973 • Inequality lies at the root of crime • This derives from “ the material basis of society” • Rejects much criminology as correctionalism and part of ruling class ideology • Individuals turn to crime as meaningful response to inequality • Utopian vision of a tolerant, socialist society

6. In developing a fully social theory of deviance a clearer understanding of crime from a critical perspective emerges A. The Act 1. The Wider Origins of the Deviant Act 2. The Immediate Origins of the Deviant Act 3. The Actual Act B. The Reaction 4. The Immediate Origins of the Social Reaction 5. The Wider Origins of the Deviant Reaction 6. The Outcome of the Social Reaction to a Deviant's Further Action

7. A. The Criminal Act 1. trace the "wider origins" of deviance to structural relationships and inequalities in the basic political and economic organisation of capitalist society. 2 understand the way in which different types of crime are related to an individual's social circumstances, motivations, and choices 3 what a particular criminal act means to the people involved. Why they chose to follow this path.

8. B. The Reaction 4. understand the meanings given to the act by those directly and indirectly involved in its production. Why some acts result in a formal criminal response. Eg. police, local community etc… 5. understand why crimes are treated differentially, who decides this and how this is affected by: a. the individual's structural location in society [whether they are rich / poor, powerful / powerless, their social class, gender and the like]. b. the individual's personal attributes. E.g. manner, dress, language

9. 6 understanding of the process whereby the deviant comes to see the deviation as the "solution" to a particular "problem“- accepting or rejecting the label • the relationship between the act and the reaction studied fully gives a far more complete theory than anything before in Criminology. Read about the study Policing the Crisis [Hall et al, 1979] and consider the usefulness of the analysis.

10. CRITIQUE • Thorough and rigorous analysis • Provides framework for empirical work • Challenges much previous work • Builds on insights of labelling theory and neo-Marxist approaches BUT • Romanticises criminals fighting against the system • Ignores women and victims • Ignores some crimes eg in the domestic/private arena However, re-inforces the fact that crime is a relative and socially constructed concept