Radical Criminology and Marxist Thought

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts of radical criminology, Marxism, state theory, and the social construction of crime.

Radical Criminology

A theoretical perspective that frames the understanding of crime in terms of class, age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality (CAGES), and historical context.

Behavioral Approaches

Criminological frameworks focusing on why individuals commit crimes, analyzing either individual characteristics or broader social contexts.

Definitional Approaches

Criminological frameworks examining how specific behaviors come to be defined as crimes, focusing on power relations and state legislation.

Value-Free Criminology

The concept that social research can be completely objective and neutral; rejected by radical scholars who argue that adopting state definitions of crime inherently reflects political values.

CAGES

An acronym for Class, Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Sexuality, analyzed by radical criminologists as social structures inflected through power rather than simple individual demographics.

Criminology of Resistance

An approach in radical criminology that uses theoretical analysis and research to actively support social movements, challenge the status quo, and promote liberation.

Capitalism

A mode of production defined by the economic relationship between workers (proletariat) who sell their labor-power and capitalists (bourgeoisie) who earn profit through ownership of the means of production.

Means of Production

The tools, technologies, infrastructure, land, and resources employed in order to produce goods and services.

Relations of Production

The social and power relationships between individuals and the means of production, which dictate control over labor and the distribution of value.

Marxist Concept of Class

A social group defined specifically by its relationship to ownership of the means of production and economic power, rather than by individual income level.

Base-Superstructure Model

The theoretical model wherein society's economic base (means and relations of production) shapes its superstructure (law, politics, education, culture), which in turn legitimates and maintains the base.

Economic Determinism

The perspective asserting that the economic base directly determines all aspects of social, political, and cultural life.

Hegemony

A concept developed by Antonio Gramsci referring to the cultural dominance of ruling-class values, leading the general public to accept status-quo inequalities as natural and taken for granted.

False Consciousness

The state in which members of an oppressed social class fail to recognize the structural nature of their own exploitation under capitalism.

Instrumentalist Marxism

A view holding that the state and legal system act directly as tools or instruments manipulated by the ruling capitalist class to maintain their supremacy.

Structuralist Marxism

A view holding that the state is a semi-autonomous site of class struggle influenced by deep social structures, sometimes acting against short-term capitalist interests to maintain overall system legitimacy.

Social Construction of Crime

The proposition that no behavior is inherently criminal, but instead becomes criminalized through specific political, economic, and legal decisions.

Crimes of the Powerful

Harmful actions committed by wealthy elites and corporations that produce massive social and physical harm, yet are frequently ignored or tolerated by the criminal justice system.

Ideological Purpose of the Criminal Justice System

The role described by Reiman and Leighton wherein the criminal justice system focuses on street crimes to construct the poor as the primary social threat, diverting attention from upper-class wrongdoing.