Labeling, Conflict, and Radical Theories Chapter 8 Labeling, Conflict, and Radical Theories Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Chapter Outline Labeling theory Conflict theory Radical theory

Warren Court Found a pervasive influence of rules and customs that violated the concepts of: Due process: People cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without lawful procedure Equal protection: No one can be denied the safeguards of the law

Labeling Theorists Explored how and why certain acts and people were defined as criminal or deviant Viewed criminals as individuals who had criminal status conferred upon them by: Criminal justice system Community

Labeling Theory Declares that the reactions of other people and the subsequent effects of those reactions create deviance Segregated from society and labeled Social interactionists: View human self as formed through a process of social interaction

Labeling Theory (continued) Frank Tannenbaum Described the creation of a criminal as a process that dramatizes evil Edwin Lemert Contended that there are two kinds of deviant acts Primary and secondary deviations

Labeling Process Individual commits a simple deviant act (primary deviation) There is an informal social reaction to the act Individual continues to break rules (primary deviations)

Labeling Process (continued 1) There is an increased social reaction Individual commits a more serious deviant act (still primary deviation) There is a formal reaction Individual is now labeled delinquent by the court and bad by the neighborhood

Labeling Process (continued 2) Individual begins to think of himself as delinquent Individual commits another, yet more serious, deviant act Individual is returned to juvenile court, has more offenses added to his record Cast out further from conventional society Takes on a completely deviant lifestyle

Labeling in the 1960s According to sociologist Kai Erickson Deviance is a property conferred upon certain forms by audiences which directly or indirectly witness them Critical variable in the study of deviance is the social audience rather than the individual actor

Labeling in the 1960s (continued 1) According to Edwin Schur Human behavior is deviant to the extent that it is viewed as involving a personally discreditable departure from a group’s normative expectation Elicits interpersonal and collective reactions that serve to isolate, treat, correct, or punish individuals engaged in such behavior

Consensus Model Assumes that: Members of society by and large agree on what is right and wrong Law is the codification of these agreed-upon social values and helps settle disputes Disputes arise when individuals stray too far from what the community considers acceptable

Conflict Theory Laws do not exist for the collective good Rather, they represent the interests of specific groups that have the power to get them enacted Laws have their origin in the interests of those few who shape the values and laws Key concept is power

Conflict Theory and Criminology George Vold Process of lawmaking and crime control is a direct reflection of conflict between interest groups Ralf Dahrendorf Conflict can be either destructive or constructive Austin Turk Criminal state is imposed on the subordinate class

Radical Theory Arose from economic and social turmoil Friedrich Engels Intellectual heritage of Marxist criminology finds its roots in nineteenth-century Europe Friedrich Engels Explained the association between crime and poverty as a political problem

Radical Theory (continued 1) Karl Marx Argued that all aspects of social life are determined by economic organization Concluded that revolution is the only means to bring about change Willem Adriaan Bonger Argued that people in a modern capitalist society concentrate on production for profit

Radical Theory (continued 2) Georg Rusche and Otto Kirchheimer Made penologists aware that harsh treatment of offenders was related to the value of human life and economic needs Penologists: Study the penal system

Radical Theory (continued 3) Radical criminology Concerned with the way the system controlled people Rather than with traditional sociological and psychological explanations of crime Radical criminologists share the central tenet of conflict theory Laws are created by the powerful to protect their own interests

Critical Perspectives Radical feminist theory Addresses the male-centered approach present in Marxist theories Views female crime in terms of class, gender, and race oppression

Critical Perspectives (continued 1) Left realism Emerged as a response to the perception that radical criminologists give importance only to the evils of elite deviance Recognizes crime as an inevitable outcome of social and political deprivation Seek a crime-control agenda, capable of being implemented in a capitalist system

Critical Perspectives (continued 2) Abolitionist theory of criminology States that crime and punishment have a reciprocal effect on each other Advocates the redistribution of power by returning it to communities and individuals, in order to fix the existing power differential

Critical Perspectives (continued 3) Anarchist theory of criminology Destruction of communities by the state is at the root of crime Peacemaking criminology Advocates humanistic, nonviolent, and peaceful solutions to crime Part of an intellectual and social movement toward restorative justice