The Justice System: Race, Class, and Gender Exam #1

Crime-Control Enterprise

the connected institutions, policies, political interest, and economic actors involved in defining, policing, prosecuting, and punishing crime

prison-industrial complex

the network of public agencies, private firms, labor interests, political incentives, and communities that can benefit from or become dependent on expanded incarceration.

What helped build the prison-industrial complex?

increased spending associated w/ the wars on crime and drugs

security-industrial complex

the broader market and institutional network organized around surveillance, private security, equipment, technology, and risk management

military-industrial complex

the relationship among the military, government decision-makers, and defense contractors—it’s tactics and equipment can spill into domestic policing

immigration-industrial complex

the institutions and business that benefit from detention, surveillance, enforcement, and removal of immigrants

nonprofit-industrial complex

a critical term for the way nonprofit funding and professionalization can channel reform work into institutionally acceptable forms

militarism can include…

military equipment, tactical language, aggressive entry practices. and an “us vs them” mentality

What is an example of mission creep?

specialized police units such as SWAR were created for rare, high-risk situations but have increasingly been used in routine enforcement, such as in investigations of college-football wagering

Crimmigration

the merger of criminal law and immigration law, in which immigration violations and criminal convictions increasingly trigger detention, exclusion, or deportation

Common features of crimmigration include…

more grounds for deportation, reduced due-process protections, increased vulnerability or victimization of immigrants, and weakened judicial discretion

what is higher immigration associated with?

a decrease in crime

climate-related disasters can contribute to…

heat-island effects, mental stress, substance misuse, and gender-based violence

What did the allegations of Juliana v. US emphasize?

gov subsidies and permits for fossil fuels, destabilization of the climate system, and disproportionate harms to children and youth

When was the earliest court documentation discussed in the chapter connecting gov awareness, fossil fuels, and climate change?

1965

neoliberalism

a policy orientation favoring deregulation, privatization, lower taxes, and reduced social spending for public goods

what is a typical outcome of neoliberalism?

wealth tends to become more concentrated when protections and public supports are weakened—not a equitable distribution of wealth

corporate lobbying can weaken…

protections for consumers, workers, and the environment

Classical perspective

People are viewed as rational actors who weigh pleasure, pain, costs & benefits. Crime is therefore understood as a choice influenced by expected rewards & punishments

Positivist perspective

crime is explained through forces or traits that can be observed and studied, such as biological, psychological, or social conditions

Lombroso’s early positivist writing described the “female criminal” as what?

a “true monster”, which is an example of how scientific claims can reproduce sexist assumptions

critical criminology

an umbrella term for approaches that examine power, inequality, capitalism, patriarchy, racism, statr authority, and environmental harm

What are the perspectives that fall under critical criminology?

feminist, radical, green, and anarchist criminology

White-collar crime

A concept introduced by Edwin Sutherland to challenge the idea that crime is mainly committed by poor people. it involved a person of respectability or high social status committing an offense in the course of an occupation & violating trust

What are examples of white-collar offenses?

financial loss, fraud, deception, regulatory violations, or exposure to risk

crimes of the powerful

a broad category including state crime, corporate crime, corporate violence, environmental crime, & crimes of globalization

Race is…

socially constructed, and has no genetic basis as a set of fixed biological categories

Observed patterns of race and crime can reflect…

class inequality, neighborhood conditions, exposure to victimization, selective enforcement, & over-policing

Historically, criminology treated men as the norm bc….

men made up most known offenders, dominated justice institutions, and were associated with more serious crimes

Moving beyond male-centered theories highlighted…

high rates of sexual abuse & financial marginalization among many women who offend

social location

a person’s position at the intersection of class, race, gender sexuality, & other social relations

social location shapes…

exposure to advantage, surveillance, victimization, & justice-system treatment

intersectionality

an approach that examines how systems of inequality interact—it does not merely add disadvantages together; it asks how the combination produced distinct experiences

critical race feminism

a perspective that challenges the assumption that white middle-class women’s experiences are universal, rejects that marginalized people simply experience “more” of the same disadvantage, & distinguishes minority women’s experiences from those of minority men

bourgeoisie

the capitalist class that owns the major means of production

proletariat

workers who sell their labor for wages bc they don’t own the means of productio

petty bourgeoisie

small proprietors & self-employed owners whose positions lies between major capitalists & wage laborers

lumpenproletariat

people positioned outside stable wage labor & the organized working class

precariat

people living w/ unstable, insecure, or contingent work & limited protections

concentrated ownership of news & entertainment helps powerful groups shape…

what appears normal, realistic, or “common sense”

media narratives may…

justify wealthy people’s privileges, distort reality to support the status quo, & narrow the range of systemic alternatives considered possible

income

money received during a period of time, including paychecks, capital gains, book royalties, & dividends

wealth

the vale of owned assets minus liabilities

assets include…

bank accounts, retirement accounts, property, & business ownership

economic privilege

advantage produced by accumulated resources, ownership, security, networks, and political influence

What percentage of American’s report living paycheck to paycheck?

64%

What percent of the wealth is actually owned by the bottom 60%?

less than 5%

what was the 2023 US poverty guideline for one person?

$14,580 per year

What was the 2021 S&P CEO pay compared w/ the average worker?

324 times as much

What is the chance that a child born in the bottom income fifth reaches the top fifth?

roughly 11%

What would the income be for those below the 90th percentile today if income stayed the same as the 1940-1970s distribution?

more than twice today’s median income

What can corporates use to shape public policy?

lobbying, campaign influence, expertise, and control over investment or employment

What are the possible results of corporations trying to shape public policy?

deferred prosecution agreements, treatment of misconducts as a civil rather than criminal matter, reduced regulations, and tax breaks

class privilege affects…

not only those who can commit high-impact organizational harms but also whether those harms are labeled crimes and how strongly they are punished

What industrial complex grew especially through spending connected to the wards on crime and drugs?

prison-industrial complex

how does the college-football wagering example illustrate mission creep?

a high-risk tactical unit was used for an ordinary gambling investigation

what does the research reviewed in chapter 1 suggest about immigration and crime?

increased immigration is associated w/ decreased crime

name 4 features of consequences associated w/ crimmigration

more deportation grounds, less due process, more victimization, less judicial discretion

why are climate-related disasters also questions of gender, class, & racial justice?

the risks & harms are distributed unequally

which 4 policies are commonly associated w/ neoliberalism?

deregulation, privatization, lower taxes, and cuts to social spending

whose protections are weakened by corporate lobbying?

consumers, workers, and the environment

which perspective most directly treats crime as a rational choice?

classical perspective

why is a biological explanation of racial differences in crime fundamentally flawed?

race is socially constructed & has no genetic basis

what 3 assumptions does critical race feminism challenge?

white women as universal, disadvantage as only additive, & minority women as equivalent to minority men

Which class terms were associated with Marx?

bourgeoisie, proletariat, petty bourgeoisie, lumpenproletariat

What newer term was not associated with Marx and why?

precariat; it helps describe contemporary insecurity but was not one of marx’s original class categories

how can concentrated media ownership create a “common sense” worldview?

it normalized elite interests, justifies privilege, supports the status quo, & limits alternatives

What is the difference between income & wealth?

income is a flow on money; wealth is net accumulated assets

Why can credit card balances matter to wealth even though they are not an asset?

credit card debt is a liability that reduces net wealth

give 4 outcomes associated w/ corporate political influence

deferred prosecution, civil treatment, less regulation, & tax breaks