Lesson Eight - Social Conflict, Critical Criminology, and Restorative Justice Robert Wonser

1. Lesson Eight - Social Conflict, Critical Criminology, and Restorative Justice Robert Wonser Introduction to Criminology Crime and Delinquency

2. Social Conflict and Criminologists • Social conflict • The struggle for power in society • Critical criminologists • Criminologists who believe that the cause of crime can be linked to economic, social, and political disparity.

3. Origins of Critical Criminology • Karl Marx • National Deviancy Conference • How might social control cause deviancy • War in Vietnam, prison struggles, civil rights movement, feminist movement • Relationship between law, power, and crime

4. Contemporary Critical Criminology • Themes and Concepts • Connection between social class, crime, and social control • Role of the government in creating a criminogenic environment • Relationship between personal/group power and shaping of criminal law

5. Contemporary Critical Criminology • Themes and Concepts • Race and gender bias in the justice system • Relationship between capitalistic economy and crime rates • Misuse of political/social/media power to control behavior of others and shape public opinion

6. Contemporary Critical Criminology • Themes and Concepts • American political system • Death penalty, three strikes laws, USA patriot act • Racism • Sexism • Demystifying domination

7. Social Conflict, Critical Criminology, and Restorative Justice

8. Defining Crime and Justice • Crime is a political concept designed to protect the power and position of the upper classes at the expense of the poor.

9. The key crime-producing element of modern corporate capitalism is the effort to increase surplus value. • Capitalism creates have and have-nots. What choice do have-nots have?

10. Defining Crime and Justice • Poor • Street crime • Middle Class • White-Collar Crime • Wealthy • Racism • Sexism • Profiteering

11. Defining Crime and Justice • Supranational Criminology • Antisocial behaviors committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as government representatives. • War • Political Corruption • Illegal Domestic Surveillance • Human Rights Violations • State-Corporate Crime • State Violence

12. Defining Crime and Justice • Instrumental vs. Structural Theory • Instrumental Theory • Criminal law and the criminal justice system are capitalist instruments for controlling the lower class. • Structural Theory • Criminal law and the criminal justice system are means of defending and preserving the capitalist system.

13. The Cause of Crime • Surplus Value • Marginalization • Globalization

14. The Cause of Crime • State (Organized) Crime • Criminal acts committed by government officials • Illegal domestic surveillance • Human rights violations • State-corporate crime • State violence

15. The Cause of Crime • Crime and social institutions • Educational disparities • “Drop-out factories” • Class and racial disparities in prosecution and sentencing • Racial threat theory • Playing on white fears of minorities and dominating racial minorities

16. Forms of Critical Criminology: Left Realism • Left Realism and crime • Crime is a function of relative deprivation under capitalism and favors pragmatic, community-based crime prevention and control. • Crime Protection • Preemptive Deterrence

17. Left Realism and Peacemaking Criminology • Crime causes real distress for poor, people of color, and women • Increased police surveillance and harsher punishments • Peacemaking criminology combines Gandhism, Marxism, Buddhism • Crime is one of many forms of suffering of human existence

18. Forms of Critical Criminology • Critical Feminist Theory • Explains both victimization and criminality among women in terms of gender inequality, patriarchy, and the exploitation of women under capitalism. • Patriarchy and Crime • Double marginality • Powerlessness • Masculinity and crime • Hegemonic masculinity • Exploitation and Criminality

19. Explanations of Women’s Criminality • Explanations of Women’s Criminality • Generalizability issue: Do traditional theories apply to females? • Doing Gender: Male and female offenders “do gender;” committed crimes differently • Power-Control Theory: Gendered processes of family life that increase or decrease delinquency • Patriarchal: Father works, mother stays home; gender differences in crime are high • Egalitarian: Both parents work outside the home; gender differences in delinquency smaller than patriarchal homes

20. Forms of Critical Criminology • Critical Feminist Theory • Power-Control Theory • Paternalistic families • Role exit behaviors • Egalitarian families • Evaluating Power-Control Theory

21. Chivalry Hypothesis: Predicts girls/women should be treated more leniently than boys/men • Evil Woman Hypothesis: Since female criminality rare, more punitive treatment • Equal Treatment Hypothesis: Gender should not affect legal processing • Empirical evidence testing these hypotheses is inconsistent

22. Class Discussion/Activity Consider the story of Li Yang on page 215. How does domestic violence relate to masculinity and “doing gender”?

23. Forms of Critical Criminology • Peacemaking Criminology • Purpose of criminology is to promote a peaceful, just society. • Punitive crime control strategies are counterproductive. • Favors humanistic conflict resolution to prevent and control crime.

24. Critique of Critical Criminology • Lack of Real Contribution to Criminology • Lack of Substance • Neglect of Regulatory Efforts in the Capitalist System • Neglect of Efforts at Social Reform

25. Forms of Critical Criminology

26. Critical Theory and Restorative Justice • The Concept of Restorative Justice • Failure of Old Punishment Policies • Restorative Justice Alternatives • Reintegrative Shaming

27. Critical Theory and Public Policy • The Process of Restoration • Restoration Programs • Sentencing circle • Family Group Conference • Reconciliation

28. Critical Theory and Public Policy • Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) • Accountability • Competency development • Community safety • The Challenge of Restorative Justice