1. Chapter 8 Social Conflict and Crime
Lee Ayers-Schlosser, Southern Oregon University

2. Chapter Objectives (1 of 2)
Understand the difference between consensus and conflict view of society, and the core themes of critical theories.
Recognize how conflict among different interest groups shapes the content of the law and the operation of the criminal justice system.
Understand the evidence regarding the relationship between race, class, and criminal justice outcomes.

3. Chapter Objectives (2 of 2)
Know how radical criminologists explain the law, criminal justice system, and criminal behavior.
Recognize extensions of radical theory, including peacemaking criminology and left realism.
Appreciate how gender may shape both criminal justice processing and theories of crime.
Link specific critical theories with their policy implications.

4. You Are the Criminologist (1 of 2)
What Is a “Serious” Crime?
A. Stephanie Pratt
Needed money to support crack addiction
Robbed local gas station and injured clerk
B. Jeffco Seatbelt Company
Designed faulty seatbelt that was projected to result in many deaths and injuries
Shredded engineering documents
Did not notify the public or recall the product

5. You Are the Criminologist (2 of 2)
Who is the most serious criminal?
How should individuals in each scenario be punished?
How might they be punished in the real world?
Does the cover-up in Scenario B qualify as murder?
Who made the most rational decision to engage in crime?

6. Introduction (1 of 2) Critical criminology (or new criminology)
Why are certain acts illegal while others are not—regardless of the harm they may cause?

7. Introduction (2 of 2) Crime as a political concept
Groups in power affect
Content of the law
Law enforcement
Sources of inequality and power
Race
Class
Gender
Solution: create a more equitable society

8. History (1 of 3) 1960s Criminology dominated by strain theories
Cloward and Ohlin
Broad social reforms and reduction of poverty necessary to reduce crime
Mobilization for Youth program
War on Poverty

9. History (2 of 3) 1970s Social context changed dramatically
Crimes of the powerful ignored
Focus on violations of victimless crimes (e.g., drug use, vagrancy)
Corrupt economic/political system had created class differences

10. History (3 of 3) Labeling theory Crime as social construction
Government intervention made delinquency worse
Connection between criminal justice system and economic order

11. Conflict Theory (1 of 2) Consensus model (previous model)
Societal consensus on law and law enforcement
Common agreement on fundamental values
Shared interests of the vast majority
Law as a mechanism to resolve conflicting interests and maintain order
The state as a value‑neutral entity
Lawmakers resolve conflicts, police enforce the law, courts arbitrate
Any bias is temporary and unintended

12. Conflict Theory (2 of 2) Conflict model
Law as the result of battles between people with different levels of power
Control over the state as principal prize in the social conflict
Bias in the criminal justice system as conscious and intentional

13. Conflict Theory and Law (1 of 3)
Those in power define laws to promote their interests.
Sources of power
Group membership (e.g., gender, social class, race)
Resources (e.g., money, organization, media access)

14. Conflict Theory and Law (2 of 3)
Public support for most laws
Disagreements
Public order offenses
Public drunkenness
Regulation of consensual sex
Prostitution
Punishment for law breaking

15. Conflict Theory and Law (3 of 3)
Influences on the law
Political interest groups
Social movements
Broad segments of society
Political parties

16. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (1 of 12)
Austin Turk
Criminalization depends less on particular behaviors of people and more on their relationship with authority.
Factors influencing conflict
Organization
Sophistication
Relative power
Cultural and social norms

17. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (2 of 12)
William Chambliss and Robert Seidman
Dispute resolution
Reconciliation and rule enforcement
Police sanctioning to maintain order
Dominance of middle-class values
Bureaucratic, biased legal system

18. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (3 of 12)
Do less powerful groups receive harsher treatment from the criminal justice system?
Minorities overrepresented at every stage
Male incarceration dramatically higher than female incarceration
Lower class individuals more likely to be involved in serious crime

19. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (4 of 12)
Do extra-legal factors (e.g., race, class, and gender) affect decision making?
Legal factors are the strongest predictors
Offense seriousness
Prior criminal record

20. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (5 of 12)
Reiss’s 1966 observational study
Race did not influence police decisions to arrest
Black suspects more likely to be arrested because they were
Suspected of more serious crimes
More hostile toward police
More likely to have complainants demanding official action
Subjected to a stronger police presence
Additional studies—findings complex and often contradictory

21. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (6 of 12)
Racial profiling
Difficult to determine
Minorities more likely to live in high-crime areas
Alfred Blumstein
Racial disparity in incarceration due to disparities in arrest rates
Blacks at a disadvantage in the criminal justice system

22. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (7 of 12)
Joan Petersilia
Offender‑Based Transaction Statistics (OBTS)
Minority suspects more likely to be released
Minority offenders more likely to receive long prison sentences following felony conviction
Rand prisoner survey
Minorities not overrepresented in the arrest population
Minorities not more likely to be arrested

23. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (8 of 12)
Klein, Petersilia, and Turner
Black and Latino offenders more likely to go to prison, especially for assault and drug offenses
Other factors eliminated this bias
William Wilbanks
No systematic racial bias
Racial threat hypothesis
As minority populations increase, punitive measures will increase

24. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (9 of 12)
War on drugs
Historically criminalized the “drug of choice” of less powerful classes
Example: crack cocaine

25. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (10 of 12)
Capital sentencing—Furman v. Georgia
Arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty
Blacks more likely to receive a death sentence
Whites more likely to have death sentences commuted to lesser sentences
Race of the victim also influenced sentencing

26. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (11 of 12)
Capital sentencing—Gregg v. Georgia
Guided discretion statute
Bifurcated trial (verdict, then sentencing)
Delimited specific aggravating circumstances juries would consider during sentencing
Automatic appeal of all death sentences to the state supreme court

27. Conflict Theory and the Criminal Justice System (12 of 12)
Capital sentencing—U.S. GAO
Race is still a dominant factor.
Blacks who kill whites have the greatest probability of receiving the death penalty.

28. Conflict Theory as an Explanation of Criminal Behavior (1 of 3)
Less powerful group adheres to its group norms while simultaneously violating those of another group
Frederic Thrasher
Gang study
Orgiastic behavior (drinking, gambling, smoking, and sex)

29. Conflict Theory as an Explanation of Criminal Behavior (2 of 3)
Thorsten Sellin
Culture conflict (ethnic groups)
Primary conflict (cultures)
Secondary conflict (subcultures)

30. Conflict Theory as an Explanation of Criminal Behavior (3 of 3)
George Vold
Political crimes
Political protest
Strife between management and labor unions
Attempts to change or upset the caste system that enforces racial segregation
Criminality depends on which side wins the conflict
Jim Crow laws

31. Critique of Conflict Theory
Fails to explain core of legal code that benefits society.
Vast amount of delinquent and criminal behavior is not political.
Most crimes occur within groups.

32. Radical Criminology
Uses Karl Marx’s theories of social structure to explain
Nature and extent of crime in society
Content and enforcement of criminal law
Links criminality to capitalism

33. Karl Marx (1 of 2)
Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and control cause class conflicts
Crime as a function of class conflict
Socioeconomic classes
Capitalists—own means of production, exploit the labor of others
Bourgeoisie—middle class
Proletariat—working class
Lumpenproletariatdispossessed under class

34. Karl Marx (2 of 2)
Law enforces the ideology of the capitalist ruling class
Superstructure of social institutions
Law
Education
Politics
Solution: change the unjust economic system which causes crime

35. Friedrich Engels Crime as a form of revolt
Society as the offender depriving and oppressing the under class
Solution: social revolution

36. Wilhelm Adrian Bonger
Crime as an immoral act against prevailing social structure
Altruism as a defining characteristic of society and human nature
Egoism characterizes capitalist society
Capitalism builds social irresponsibility and creates a climate of crime
Solution: socialism (which allows altruism to flourish)

37. George Rusche and Otto Kirchheimer
Crime is an outgrowth of unemployment and poor social conditions.
Imprisonment reflects economic conditions.
The state is selective about whom it punishes.

38. Richard Quinney (1 of 2)
Criminal justice system as the last supporting prop for a slowly decaying capitalist social order
Law enforcement exists primarily to control members of the lower class

39. Richard Quinney (2 of 2) Typology of crime Crimes of domination
Crimes of control
Crimes of government
Crimes of economic domination
Social injuries
Crimes of accommodation
Predatory crimes
Personal crimes
Crimes of resistance

40. Law and the Criminal Justice System (1 of 2)
Instrumental Marxism
Law and the criminal justice system are tools to control the lower classes.
However, many laws are not in the interest of the capitalist class.
Structural Marxism
Some laws may run counter to the desires of the capitalist class.
Capitalists are not portrayed as a single, homogenous group.

41. Law and the Criminal Justice System (2 of 2)
Jeffrey Reiman
White collar crime less serious and less likely to be enforced
Pollution
Hazardous work conditions
Unsafe products
Insider trading
Embezzlement
Fraud
Wealthy people are less likely to be formally charged and better able to avoid sanctioning

42. Historical Support for Marxist Criminology
William Chambliss
English vagrancy law of 1349
Enacted to provide a pool of cheap labor and combat the collapse of the feudal system
Anthony Platt
U.S. juvenile court system
Formed to control immigrant youths and instill discipline

43. A Radical Critique of Traditional Criminologists
Mainstream criminology fails by
Concentrating on the behavior of the offender
Accepting legal definitions of crime
Ignoring that crime is created by political authority
Focusing on street crime and ignoring white-collar crime
Criminologists as agents of the state
Providing information that the government uses to manipulate and control those who threaten the system

44. Critique of Radical Criminology (1 of 2)
Polarizing, personalized, and narrow
Offers nothing new
Only politicized traditional criminological theories
Has not clearly defined the ruling class
Idealized view of the deviant as a rebel
Can’t explain failure of communism and low-crime capitalist countries
Dependent on historical analysis (which is difficult to test)

45. Critique of Radical Criminology (2 of 2)
Has forced criminologists to broaden their perspective
Has highlighted the difference in sanctioning between crimes of the powerful and crimes of the poor
Acts as a conscience for the discipline of criminology

46. Extensions of Radical Criminology
1. British (“left”) realism
2. Elliot Currie (United States as market society)
3. Criminology as peacemaking

47. British Realism Practical solutions to street crime
Street crime as working class problem
Questions conservative crime policies that emphasize
Deterrence
Military‑style policing
Increasing use of prisons
Suggests minimal policing and police accountably to local communities

48. Elliot Currie (1 of 2) Only some forms of capitalism encourage crime
Market economy (compassionate capitalism)
Market society (high levels of inequality and poverty)
Solution: softer, gentler capitalist society

49. Elliot Currie (2 of 2)
Mechanisms that link market societies to high rates of violence
Destroys livelihoods
Tendency toward extremes of inequality
Weakens public support
Erodes informal social support
Promotes a culture of competition and consumption
Deregulates the technology of violence
Weakens alternative political values and institutions

50. Criminology as Peacemaking
Draws on many religious traditions
Crime as a form of suffering (both criminal and victim)
Policy implications
Mediation
Reconciliation
Confronts issue like
Homelessness
Sexual assault
Use of prisons
Criticism: rejects any effort to scientifically study crime or crime control

51. Feminist Criminology (1 of 4)
Emphasizes equal opportunity and importance of sex-role socializations
Fights against the “patriarchy”—male dominance exerted over females through financial and physical power
Types
Liberal feminism
Socialist feminism
Radical feminism

52. Feminist Criminology (2 of 4)
Liberal feminism
Focus on problems arising from
Gender discrimination
Stereotypical views of women
Affirmative action and equal opportunity as major weapons of change
Criticism:
Ignores class and race differences among women
Does not strongly question white, male, capitalist privilege
Uses the traditional scientific methodology to study crime

53. Feminist Criminology (3 of 4)
Socialist feminism
Gender discrimination as a function of capitalist society
Fosters both social class divisions and patriarchy
Criminality gap due to social relations of production (class) and reproduction (family)
Patriarchal capitalism divides powerful (males, capitalists) and powerless (females, working class)
Opportunity to commit crime is limited by position in the social structure

54. Feminist Criminology (4 of 4)
Radical feminism
Origins of patriarchy and subordination of women
Male aggression
Control of female sexuality

55. Kathleen Daly and Meda Chesney-Lind (1 of 3)
Gender ratio
Males account for the vast majority of delinquent and criminal offending
Uniform Crime Report
National Crime Victimization Survey
Self-report studies
Liberation hypothesis
Gender gap shrinking
Greater opportunities for women (legitimate and illegitimate)
Not supported by further research

56. Kathleen Daly and Meda Chesney-Lind (2 of 3)
Gender ratio explanations
Social-learning variables
Delinquent peers
Antisocial attitudes
School performance
Sex-role attitudes
Traditional gender beliefs
Masculinity

57. Kathleen Daly and Meda Chesney-Lind (3 of 3)
Generalizability issue
Mainstream criminological theories not applicable to female offending
Most criminology theorists are male.
Typology of female offending
Street women
Harmed-and-harming women
Battered women
Drug-connected women
Other women

58. Karen Heimer and Stacey De Coster
Use the feminist perspective to “gender” differential association theory
Definitions favorable to law violation have different sources for males and females

59. Gender and the Criminal Justice System (1 of 3)
Predictions
Those who lack power should have their behavior criminalized and should be singled out by the criminal justice system for punishment.
Crimes against the less powerful should be given less priority.

60. Gender and the Criminal Justice System (2 of 3)
Research findings
If there is a gender effect, it benefits females.
Significant gender effects are small and appear at different stages of processing.
Women are less able to plea bargain and are more willing to plead guilty than men.

61. Gender and the Criminal Justice System (3 of 3)
Chivalry hypothesis
Females treated more leniently in a male-dominated system
Paternalism
Could lead to leniency
Could have punitive response if it serves to keep women in a submissive role

62. Critique of Feminist Theory
Highlighted certain crimes that were not enforced because women lacked power and status
Helped reframe domestic violence, date rape, and marital rape

63. Conclusion Critical theories have
Challenged the basis and legitimacy of the criminal justice system and law enforcement
Stressed the importance of crime as a politically constructed label
Changed the manner in which crime is studied, considered, and analyzed
Asked criminologists to explain crimes neglected in mainstream literature