Parts 6,7,8,9: Labeling Theory, Critical Criminology, Feminist, Race Theory

What is the core idea of Frank Tannenbaum's "Dramatization of Evil"?

Crime results from societal reactions, where labeling amplifies deviance and shapes identity.

How does labeling affect an individual’s identity?

Societal messages shape identity, turning a person into what they are labeled.

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy in labeling theory?

Being labeled as deviant leads to deviance due to limited opportunities and social stigma.

Define primary deviance.

Rule-breaking without internalizing a deviant identity.

Define secondary deviance.

Internalizing a deviant identity after societal reactions reinforce it.

What triggers the shift from primary to secondary deviance?

Reactions from others that reinforce the deviant label.

What did Chambliss’ "Saints and Roughnecks" study demonstrate?

Class-based societal perceptions lead to disparate outcomes for similar behavior.

What is Howard Becker’s key argument about deviance?

Deviance is socially constructed and depends on societal reactions rather than inherent behavior.

What is a major critique of labeling theory?

It lacks strong empirical support and often ignores pre-existing factors like poverty or inequality.

Why did labeling theory lose popularity?

Limited ability to explain crime that occurs before state intervention and overemphasis on labels.

What are informal sanctions, according to Matsueda?

Labels from family, friends, and community that influence self-perception.

What is Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming?

Condemning the act while maintaining community ties to reintegrate the offender.

How does stigmatizing shame differ from reintegrative shame?

Stigmatizing shame isolates the offender, while reintegrative shame fosters forgiveness and reintegration.

Why is reintegrative shaming effective in reducing crime?

It maintains community ties, reduces appeal of criminal subcultures, and fosters moral development.

What cultural conditions support reintegrative shaming?

Societies emphasizing interdependence and mutual responsibility.

What is the goal of restorative justice?

To repair harm by addressing relationships between victims, offenders, and the community.

How does restorative justice differ from traditional punishment?

It focuses on accountability and reintegration rather than retribution alone.

What does defiance theory explain?

Recidivism occurs when offenders perceive sanctions as stigmatizing and unfair.

What reduces recidivism according to defiance theory?

Positive social bonds and perceptions of fair sanctions.

What is Maruna’s concept of "making good"?

Transforming a deviant label into a positive, prosocial identity.

What is a condemnation script?

Viewing oneself as a victim of circumstances with no ability to escape deviance.

What is a redemption script?

Reframing a shameful past as a foundation for personal growth and contribution to society.

What role do societal and individual responses play in labeling?

They determine whether labeling leads to persistent deviance or reintegration.

How do reintegrative practices reduce recidivism?

By minimizing stigma and promoting positive identity transformation.

What is the relationship between restorative justice and labeling theory?

Restorative justice aligns with reintegrative shaming by addressing harm and fostering reintegration.

When did critical criminology emerge, and why?

It emerged during the 1960s as a response to traditional theories, emphasizing social change and focusing on power, inequality, and crime.

What does critical criminology say about capitalism?

Capitalism enriches some while impoverishing many, fostering crime through exploitation, inequality, and competition.

How does the criminal justice system function according to critical criminology?

It operates to protect the social arrangements that benefit the affluent and elite, enforcing laws that disadvantage the poor.

What is the primary critique of how crime is defined?

Crime is subjective, reflecting societal power structures rather than objective harm.

What is the political nature of crime in critical criminology?

Crime is shaped by class conflict, with laws serving elite interests while criminalizing the working class.

What is the proposed solution to crime?

Creating a more equitable society through democratic socialism and strengthened social supports.

Who was Willem Bonger, and what was his key argument?

Bonger applied Marxist ideas to crime, arguing that capitalism fosters egoism, competition, and isolation, and advocated for socialism to build social bonds and reduce crime.

What did Richard Quinney propose in "The Social Reality of Crime"?

Quinney highlighted class conflict as central to crime, with working-class crimes stemming from class oppression and elite crimes exploiting the state. He viewed socialism as the solution.

What is peacemaking criminology?

It focuses on ending suffering to eliminate crime, promoting peace and community well-being as a means to prevent criminal behavior.

What did Elliot Currie identify as causes of crime in market societies?

• Destruction of livelihoods.

• Extreme inequality.

• Weakening of family and social bonds.

What is the role of "compassionate capitalism"?

Compassionate capitalism and stronger social supports can reduce crime by mitigating the harsh effects of market societies.

What does Mark Colvin’s Differential Coercion Theory propose?

• Harsh and erratic coercion fosters criminal behavior.

• Consistent, non-coercive social control creates positive outcomes.

• Policies should reduce inequality and interpersonal coercion.

What are three major critiques of critical criminology?

• Oversimplifies the mechanisms linking capitalism to crime.

• Lacks strong empirical validation.

• Proposals for systemic change can be idealistic.

How does critical criminology approach the root causes of crime?

By addressing power disparities and systemic exploitation to create safer, more equitable communities.

What led to the rise of feminist criminology in the 1970s?

The women’s rights movement, increased educational and occupational opportunities, and challenges to male-centered criminology.

What is the liberalization hypothesis in feminist criminology?

It suggests that increased gender equality in socialization and opportunity leads to equal crime rates between men and women.

What evidence supported the liberalization hypothesis?

Between 1960 and 1972, female arrests rose significantly, including burglary (168%), robbery (277%), and theft (300%).

What are critiques of the liberalization hypothesis?

Timing of predictions doesn't align with evidence.

• Crime is more common among women in unequal societies.

• Boys and girls treated similarly don’t necessarily exhibit similar behaviors.

What is Chesney-Lind’s feminist theory on patriarchy and crime?

It argues that the patriarchy oppresses women, and the justice system reinforces this oppression, particularly in cases of sexualized crimes.

According to Chesney-Lind, what are the origins of female crime?

Female crime often stems from escaping abuse, poverty, and systemic oppression, which intersect with race and class inequalities.

How does the justice system treat girls differently than boys?

Girls have a lower threshold for entering the system, and their behavior, often linked to survival, is more likely to be criminalized.

What is Messerschmidt’s theory on masculinity and crime?

Crime is a resource for demonstrating masculinity, especially when manhood is questioned or undermined.

What are critiques of Messerschmidt’s masculinity theory?

Overly deterministic and ignores female perspectives.

• Doesn't account for the phenomenology of crime.

• Overpredicts male criminal behavior.

How does feminist criminology "gender" traditional theories of crime?

By applying gender perspectives to traditional variables, such as self-control, strain, and peer influence, to explain differences in male and female offending.

How do traditional theories explain the gender gap in crime?

Social control: Women exhibit more self-control and are closely monitored.

• General strain: Men and women experience different types of strain.

• Differential association: Women are less exposed to delinquent peers.

What is the integrated theory of gender and crime?

Combines traditional theories with feminist insights to explain:

• The gender gap in serious crime.

• Why females rarely lead criminal groups.

How does Miller’s urban criminology relate to gender and crime?

Structural norms in inner-city neighborhoods support violence, and masculinity is often aligned with mistreating women.

What is "bad girl femininity"?

A concept where female criminal behavior aligns with traditional femininity, showing that acting criminally and femininity are not incompatible.

What are the key contributions of feminist criminology?

Expanding criminological theories to include gender-specific experiences.

• Challenging male-centered assumptions.

• Addressing structural inequalities and intersectionality in crime.

• Disparities in offending, victimization, and punishment 

  • Race, Crime, and Incarceration

• Black/white disparities in: 

  • 1 in 3 black lifetime incarceration, 1 in 20 white 

  • 28 per 100,000 Black homicide victims, 4.5 per 100,000 white 

  • 34 per 100,000 Black homicide offenders, 4.5 per 100,000 white 

• No major differences in use or sale of drugs 

• What explains these disparities (and non-disparities)?

• Moving beyond “White criminology” 

• One would presume that race would be a central concern in criminology 

  • But it’s not 

• Rarely a central object of explanation 

• Race as a “control variable” 

• The generality approach 

  • Race us exclusively ignored 

• Structural theory (Sampson and Wilson’s “theory of race, crime, and urban inequality”)

  • Black-white disparity in neighborhood violence 

  • Known as the “racial invariance” thesis 

  • extreme/concentrated disadvantage and social/spatial isolation alter the cultural landscape of cities 

    • Concentrated disadvantage: high rates of poverty, population is more isolated from things that matter in the economy 

    • Deindustrialization – spatially they didn’t have jobs, jobs that remained were white-collar jobs – created major inequality on our cities 

  • Ecologically-structured norms and standards in these communities, where violence is not valued, but is tolerated 

  • Theoretical Model 

    • Macrostructural forces (deindustrialization, outmigration, segregation) → concentrated disadvantage (social isolation) → cultural disorganization (weakened culture) → crime 

• Cultural theory (Anderson’s “code of the street”)

  • Code of the Street

• Sampson and Bean (2006)

1. Culture doesn’t matter – “pseudo-cultures”

2. Culture is endogenous to structure

3. Culture acquires causal force, net of structure 

• Anderson’s “code of the street” falls more into #3 and #2

  • Governs interpersonal relations to teach young people that violence means to achieve respect 

• Street code that governs public interaction in disadvantaged, isolated neighborhoods

  • Violence is an expedient method to achieve respect 

• coercion/institutional theory (clear, alexander)

  • The New Jim Crow 

• The criminal justice system is legalized racism 

• Control, disenfranchisement, and discrimination 

  • Targeting racialized corollaries (drug war, gangs)

  • “Getting tough” expanded state control (surveillance, sanction, labelling)

  • Mass incarceration + mass criminalization 

• Racial caste system, denying hard-won civil rights 

• Imprisoning Communities 

• Collateral consequences of mass incarceration

• Family 

  • Removes role models and parents in the household 

• Economic 

  • reduces earnings 

• Political 

  • Makes the state a coercive agent

  • Delegitimizes criminal justice, less likely to obey authority 

• Whatever benefit we get is gonna come with a greater cost 

• Discrimination theory (Unnever and gabbidon’s “theory of african american offending”)

• Unnever and Gabbidon: 

  • A theory of African American offending 

  • Want to understand why some kids engage in crime and many don’t 

• Race-specific, not a general, theory 

• Theoretical emphasis on the unique worldview and lived experiences of blacks 

  • Unique mechanism: actual and perceived discrimination 

• Propositions 

  • Compared to other racial groups, black people: 

    • Perceive they live in a world that is rigged against them 

    • Believe that they will encounter racial prejudice and discrimination 

    • Have a unique racial lens that informs their beliefs/behaviors

  • These worldviews take a mental and physical toll 

  • How to cope? Racial socialization 

    • Get kids to understand that they will encounter prejudice 

    • There is racial pride to fend off attempts to devalue their race 

    • Preparation for incidence, what to do when they encounter police force 

• Disparities in offending, victimization, and punishment 

  • Race, Crime, and Incarceration

• Black/white disparities in: 

  • 1 in 3 black lifetime incarceration, 1 in 20 white 

  • 28 per 100,000 Black homicide victims, 4.5 per 100,000 white 

  • 34 per 100,000 Black homicide offenders, 4.5 per 100,000 white 

• No major differences in use or sale of drugs 

• What explains these disparities (and non-disparities)?

• Moving beyond “White criminology” 

• One would presume that race would be a central concern in criminology 

  • But it’s not 

• Rarely a central object of explanation 

• Race as a “control variable” 

• The generality approach 

  • Race us exclusively ignored 

• Structural theory (Sampson and Wilson’s “theory of race, crime, and urban inequality”)

  • Black-white disparity in neighborhood violence 

  • Known as the “racial invariance” thesis 

  • extreme/concentrated disadvantage and social/spatial isolation alter the cultural landscape of cities 

    • Concentrated disadvantage: high rates of poverty, population is more isolated from things that matter in the economy 

    • Deindustrialization – spatially they didn’t have jobs, jobs that remained were white-collar jobs – created major inequality on our cities 

  • Ecologically-structured norms and standards in these communities, where violence is not valued, but is tolerated 

  • Theoretical Model 

    • Macrostructural forces (deindustrialization, outmigration, segregation) → concentrated disadvantage (social isolation) → cultural disorganization (weakened culture) → crime 

• Cultural theory (Anderson’s “code of the street”)

  • Code of the Street

• Sampson and Bean (2006)

1. Culture doesn’t matter – “pseudo-cultures”

2. Culture is endogenous to structure

3. Culture acquires causal force, net of structure 

• Anderson’s “code of the street” falls more into #3 and #2

  • Governs interpersonal relations to teach young people that violence means to achieve respect 

• Street code that governs public interaction in disadvantaged, isolated neighborhoods

  • Violence is an expedient method to achieve respect 

• coercion/institutional theory (clear, alexander)

  • The New Jim Crow 

• The criminal justice system is legalized racism 

• Control, disenfranchisement, and discrimination 

  • Targeting racialized corollaries (drug war, gangs)

  • “Getting tough” expanded state control (surveillance, sanction, labelling)

  • Mass incarceration + mass criminalization 

• Racial caste system, denying hard-won civil rights 

• Imprisoning Communities 

• Collateral consequences of mass incarceration

• Family 

  • Removes role models and parents in the household 

• Economic 

  • reduces earnings 

• Political 

  • Makes the state a coercive agent

  • Delegitimizes criminal justice, less likely to obey authority 

• Whatever benefit we get is gonna come with a greater cost 

• Discrimination theory (Unnever and gabbidon’s “theory of african american offending”)

• Unnever and Gabbidon: 

  • A theory of African American offending 

  • Want to understand why some kids engage in crime and many don’t 

• Race-specific, not a general, theory 

• Theoretical emphasis on the unique worldview and lived experiences of blacks 

  • Unique mechanism: actual and perceived discrimination 

• Propositions 

  • Compared to other racial groups, black people: 

    • Perceive they live in a world that is rigged against them 

    • Believe that they will encounter racial prejudice and discrimination 

    • Have a unique racial lens that informs their beliefs/behaviors

  • These worldviews take a mental and physical toll 

  • How to cope? Racial socialization 

    • Get kids to understand that they will encounter prejudice 

    • There is racial pride to fend off attempts to devalue their race 

    • Preparation for incidence, what to do when they encounter police force 

What are the lifetime incarceration rates for Black vs. White individuals?

1 in 3 Black men face lifetime incarceration vs. 1 in 20 White men.

What is the Black vs. White homicide victimization rate?

Black: 28 per 100,000 vs. White: 4.5 per 100,000.

What is the Black vs. White homicide offending rate?

Black: 34 per 100,000 vs. White: 4.5 per 100,000

Are there significant racial disparities in drug use or sales?

No significant racial disparities exist in drug use or sales.

What is the "Racial Invariance Thesis" by Sampson & Wilson?

Neighborhood conditions, not race, drive crime disparities.

What macrostructural forces contribute to concentrated disadvantage?

Deindustrialization, outmigration, and segregation.

What is the theoretical model linking structure to crime?

Macrostructural forces → Concentrated disadvantage → Cultural disorganization → Crime.

What is Anderson’s "Code of the Street"?

A set of informal rules governing interpersonal relations in disadvantaged neighborhoods where violence is used to gain respect.

How does culture acquire causal force in crime?

Culture becomes intertwined with structural conditions and influences behavior.

What does "The New Jim Crow" argue?

The criminal justice system perpetuates racial control through mass incarceration and criminalization, creating a racial caste system.

What are the collateral consequences of mass incarceration?

• Family: Removes parents and role models.

• Economic: Reduces earnings.

• Political: Delegitimizes authority and reduces trust in the justice system.

What do Unnever & Gabbidon’s propositions state about African American perceptions?

Compared to other racial groups, Black individuals:

1. Perceive systemic discrimination.

2. Believe they will encounter racial prejudice.

3. Have a unique racial lens shaping their worldview.

What is racial socialization?

Teaching children racial pride and preparing them to handle prejudice and police interactions.

How has criminology traditionally approached race?

Race is often ignored or treated as a "control variable" rather than a central concern.

What is the critique of "White criminology"?

It fails to address racial disparities and systemic inequalities as primary factors in crime.

What do solutions to racial disparities in crime focus on?

Addressing systemic inequalities and societal structures rather than individual behaviors alone.

Critical/radical/conflict criminologists would argue that the United States has a high crime rate because

compared with other Western industrial nations, the United States has a high degree of economic inequality between the rich and the poor.

According to Sampson and Wilson’s theory of race, crime, and urban inequality, which of the following is true?

Disadvantaged, isolated neighborhoods develop a tolerance for crime and deviance, seeing it as unavoidable given the structural circumstances.

According to Clear, the main reason why Black men have such high rates of incarceration in comparison to other groups is

mandatory prison sentences for drug crimes.

How does incarceration (typically of men) affect family systems?

 It is detrimental, because parenting is interrupted, and incarceration is provided as a model for children.

According to Messerschmidt, men commit crime mainly

 as a way of demonstrating their masculinity.

Many scholars argue that incarceration impacts each of the following systems within communities except _______ systems

religious

In which of the following ways was Messerschmidt critical of feminist criminological theory?

He suggested that feminist theory neglected variation among men.

Which of the following is true about the liberal feminist approach?

 It highlights the role of sex-role socialization in understanding gender patterns in crime.

Feminist criminology began to rise in which decade?

 1970s

Which of the following policies would Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming argue is most likely to reduce crime?

Restorative justice programs involving the restoring of harm to the community

Chesney-Lind argues there is a common pathway to crime for girls/women stemming from abuse. She posits that girls/women escape abuse and commit crime when

they run away and commit crime to survive.

The idea that only certain law violators are detected and labeled as "criminal" is consistent with which theory?

Labeling theory

In his theory of reintegrative shaming, Braithwaite argues

stigmatizing and rejecting offenders without reintegration back into the community will cause them to become more criminal.

Which of the following was considered the most powerful influence in the early days of feminist criminology scholarship?

Liberal feminist approach

According to Maruna, how do those who are trying to move on from criminal behavior interpret their past criminal behavior?

They find meaning in it and use it to help others.

In The New Jim Crow, which of the following does Alexander argue makes discrimination legal?

A criminal record

Which of the following is a policy implication of contemporary labeling theories?

Reducing the collateral consequences of incarceration

Chesney-Lind used the term "criminalization of girls' survival" to explain

the crimes girls/women commit when trying to escape abusive situations and survive

Which of the following was true before the rise of feminist criminology?

The social experience of gender was given little or no importance.

Many critical criminological theories can trace their roots to the work of

Karl Marx.