Critical Criminology

“Mainstream” Theory

  • Crimes captured in official statistics

  • Crime is “everywhere”

  • Are criminals irrational?; Crime committed by whom?; “Get Tough” policies, effectiveness?



Critical Criminology

  • Radical, Marxist, Conflict

  • Marxism: Focus on how law is used to control the lower classes

  • Challenge how we think about crime



Labeling Theory

  • Who gets labeled, who does the labeling? (Macro-level)

  • What are the effects of the labels? (Micro-level)

  • Primary Deviance

  • Secondary Deviance



Labeling

  • How do we label former offenders?: Housing Discrimination, Employment Discrimination, Sex-Offenders Registries, Student Loan Exclusions for Drugs