chapter 4: crime and equality

marxism

Social theory founded by Karl Marx views society as structured by conflicts between economic groups or classes.

ideology

In Marxism, the view is that the beliefs and values of a society reflect the interests of the dominant class.

class struggle

The Marxist theory that human history is shaped by the flight for power between different economic groups (classes)

crtitical race theory

The view that American society is structurally unequal and that minorities are targeted by the government in general and by the criminal justice system in particular.

structural racism

racism that is part of the institutions and culture we live in, not a set of beliefs held by anybody in particular

racial threat theory

The theory that white Americans see black people as a threat to their power, wealth, and security, and as such, should be controlled

patriarchy

The feminist view of society argues that social power is in the hands of men and serves male intrest.

feminist criminology

The criminological theory is rooted in the view that women are treated unjustly in society and that these inequalities are reflected in criminal justice

carceral feminism

The feminist theory holds that the best response to crimes against women is to aggressively push for harder punishments against those who commit these crimes.

rape sheilds

laws that prevent defense lawyers from interrogating the sexual history of rape victims

intesectionality

The critical approach that seeks to understand how different inequalities (race, class, gender) interact

green criminology

the field of criminology that studies enviormental crime

post modernism

A collection of social theories that question both conservative and leftist criminology theories and reject the idea that there is a right way to organize society

queer criminlogy

The field of criminology that examines crime and justice issues that affect gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and queer people

what is under the mainstream theory

• crimes captured in official stats

• class bias

• street crime

• male offenders

what is under critical criminology

• radical, Marxist, conflict

• rooted in Marxism

• focus on how law is used to control the lower classes

• challenge how we think about crime

what are the two things under the labeling theory

• Who gets labeled, and who does the labeling? - macro-level

• what effects of the labels? - micro-level

what is under primary devience

everyone has committed primary deviance it is said to be a healthy act

what is under secondary devience

• Further deviance because society has labeled and stigmatized them as deviant (drug offenders)

• Example: primary: cocaine; white; secondary: crack; African American, meth: low class white

what happened with brock turner

raped a girl, the judge gave him a less sentance because he was “afraid of what jail would do to him” since he came from a rich family and was white.

How are corporate crimes labeled

• they don’t get labeled as “bad people”, pay fines, just apologize

how do we label former offenders

• employment discrimination

• sex offender registries

• student loans exclusion for drugs