Class Notes on Crime and Criminal Justice

Class Overview

• Class focused on crime and criminal behavior compared to societal perceptions.

• Transition from previous topic (prisons) to current lecture on the upcoming exam.

Exam Details

• Exam has already been created.

• Lecture designed to highlight important aspects that will be covered in the exam.

Discussions on Crime Perception

• Initial thoughts on crime are often aligned with violent, overt harm (e.g., street crimes).

• Suggestion to conduct a poll for audience engagement in understanding these perceptions.

Common Misconceptions about Criminals

• Stereotypical images of criminals are often violent, e.g., masked individuals with weapons.

• Contrast is drawn to white-collar criminals, often depicted as educated and successful individuals in professional settings (e.g., CEOs, lawyers).

Psychological Aspects of Crime

• Societal tendency to associate crime with breaches of laws that involve clear harm (e.g., robbery).

• Discussion regarding the implications of certain behaviors in business often overlooked, contrasting public and corporate crimes.

Case Study: Corporate Crime

• Description of how white-collar crime is typically not perceived or labeled the same way as violent crime.

• Example provided of a successful CEO engaging in fraudulent activities, and the societal reaction to it.

Types of Crime

• White-Collar Crime:

  • Crimes committed by professionals in their occupation.

  • Primarily non-violent and for personal financial gain.

  • Not strictly corporate crime as it focuses on individual behavior, rather than the organization.

Characteristics of White-Collar Crime

• Occupational Crime:

  • Committed by individuals using their job as a vehicle for personal gain.

  • Can occur across various employment sectors, not limited to high-status positions.

Examples of White-Collar and Occupational Crimes

• White-Collar Crime: Fraud, insider trading, embezzlement.

• Occupational Crime: Employees stealing from their companies, medical fraud by healthcare professionals, theft of resources.

Corporate Crime

• Focuses on actions taken by companies that harm society or individuals for profitability.

  • Examples include neglecting safety regulations, unsafe products, and price-fixing practices.

Discussion on Why Street Crime is More Feared

• Street crime is often sensationalized in media; reporting focuses on shocking and dramatic incidents.

• Crimes of the powerful are less visible, rationalized, and thought of as less threatening.

Factors Influencing Public Perception of Crime

• Consideration of media portrayal of crime, including how violent crime is presented versus white-collar crime.

• Immediate effects of violent crimes vs. delayed effects of corporate crimes, which often have long-term health impacts (e.g., pollution, unhealthy products).

The Role of Complexity in Understanding Crime

• Complexity of white-collar and corporate crimes makes them harder for the public to identify and comprehend.

• These crimes often require specialized knowledge for investigation and understanding, leading to a lack of engagement from the public.

Emotional Responses to Crime

• Emotional responses to crime tend to vary:

  • Immediate, visceral reactions to violent crime.

  • Distanced reactions to white-collar or corporate crime, possibly due to normalization or indifference.

Equity and Justice

Symbol of Lady Justice:

• Blindfold: Represents impartiality; justice should be unbiased.

• Scales: Indicate fairness and weighing evidence before judgement.

• Sword: Symbolizes the power of the law to enforce justice.

Case Study: Chris Brown

• Discussion of celebrity justice, contrasting public expectations of punishment based on celebrity status against non-celebrities who face harsher penalties for similar crimes.

Karl Marx and Crime Perspective

History and Context

• Karl Marx viewed the conflict between classes as rooted in societal structures, influencing his perspective on crime.

• Industrial Revolution impacted class distinctions and defined labor conditions.

• Marx’s focus on bourgeoisie vs. proletariat examined who benefits from societal structures.

Marx’s Concept of Alienation

• Types of Alienation:

  • Alienation from the process of labor (no control over work conditions).

  • Alienation from the product of labor (workers do not benefit from what they produce).

  • Alienation from fellow workers (competition rather than cooperation).

  • Alienation from one's species being (human creativity and fulfillment stifled).

Class Consciousness vs. False Consciousness

• False Consciousness: Acceptance of capitalist ideologies; workers fail to see their exploitation.

• Class Consciousness: Awareness of one's social class and exploitation leads to potential resistance and change.

Economic Motivation for Crime

• Different motivations for crime as explained by Marx:

  • Utilitarian Crimes: Economic gain (theft, fraud).

  • Non-Utilitarian Crimes: Emotion-driven actions like vandalism or violence due to frustration and anger caused by socio-economic conditions.

Modern Implications of Marx’s Theories

Capitalism and Crime

• Crime manifesting from systemic inequality rooted in capitalism.

• Focus on how capitalism encourages behaviors that may be deemed criminal: greed, competition, individualism.

Case Example: Ford Pinto

• Importance of profit vs. human safety; decision-making based on minimizing company costs despite risking lives of consumers.

Criminal Justice Perspectives

• Discussions on the disparities in justice for different classes, focusing on how white-collar criminals often face less severe consequences than street criminals.

Drug Comparisons: Crack vs. Cocaine

• Look at the social implications: differences in sentencing and racial biases in drug-related criminal charges.

• Critical examination of how societal perceptions influence the legal consequences faced by different demographics based on drug usage.

Conclusion

• Recap of the complex interplay between crime, society, perception, and power as discussed throughout the class.