Chapter Eight

1
Chapter Eight

• Social Conflict, Critical Criminology and
• Restorative Justice

2
Objectives

• Be familiar with the concept of social conflict
  and how it shapes behavior
• Be able to discuss elements of conflict in the
  justice system
• Be familiar with the idea of critical criminology
• Be able to discuss the differences between
  structural and instrumental Marxism
• Know the various techniques of critical research
• Be able to discuss the term left realism
• Understand the concept of patriarchy
• Know what is meant by feminist criminology
• Be able to discuss peacemaking
• Understand the concept of restorative justice

3
Contemporary Critical Criminology

• Critical criminology views crime as a function of
  social conflict and economic rivalry
• It seeks to identify economic structures in
  society that control all humans
• It rejects the notion that the law is designed to
  maintain a tranquil, fair society and that
  criminals are malevolent people who wish to
  trample on the rights of others
• They consider the acts of racism, sexism,
  imperialism, unsafe working conditions,
  inadequate child care, substandard housing,
  pollution, and war-making as a tool of foreign
  policy, to be true crimes.

4
Marxist Thought Productive Forces and Productive
Relations

• Karl Marx focused his attention on the economic
  conditions perpetrated by the capitalists
• He identified the economic structures in society
  that control all human relations
• Production has two components
• 1. productive forces
• 2. productive relations
• He proposed the notion that unequal distribution
  of power and wealth produce crime
• Crime develops as a result of social conflict

5
Creating a Critical Criminology

• Social thinkers began to show how in our
  postindustrial, capitalist society the economic
  system invariably produces haves and have-nots.
• Because economic competitiveness is the essence
  of capitalism, conflict increases and eventually
  destabilizes both social institutions and social
  groups.

6
How Critical Criminologists Define Crime

• Crime is a political concept designed to protect
  the power and position of the upper classes at
  the expense of the poor
• Criminals are products of the society and its
  economic system
• To control crime, a society must remove the
  social conditions that promote crime

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How Critical Criminologists View The Cause of
Crime

• The key crime-producing element of modern
  corporate capitalism is the effort to increase
  surplus value
• To increase surplus value, workers can be made to
  toil harder for less pay
• As the rate of surplus value increases, more
  people are displaced from productive
  relationships
• Marginalization as more people are placed
  outside the economic mainstream, a larger
  population is forced to live in areas conducive
  to crime

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Globalization

• The process of creating a global economy through
  transnational markets and political and legal
  systems
• It began when large companies decided to
  establish themselves in foreign markets by
  adapting their products or services to the local
  culture

10
Instrumental vs. Structural Theory

• Instrumental theorists view criminal law and the
  criminal justice system as instruments for
  controlling the poor, have-not members of
  society.
• Structural theorists believe that the law is not
  the exclusive domain of the rich rather, it is
  used to maintain the long-term interests of the
  capitalist system and control members of any
  class who threatens its existence.

11
Research on Critical Criminology

• Critical thinkers believe that the research
  conducted by mainstream liberal and positivist
  criminologists is often designed to unmask weak,
  powerless members of society so they can be
  better dealt with by the legal system
• Rarely use standard social science methodologies
  use to test their views, more likely to examine
  historical trends and patterns rather than
  surveys and numbers
• Examples racial profiling, police brutality,
  prosecution and sentencing disparities.

12
Emerging Forms of Critical Criminology

• Left realism
• Critical Feminist Theory
• Peacemaking criminology

13
Left Realism

• Approach that sees crime as a function of
  relative deprivation under capitalism and favors
  pragmatic, community-based crime prevention and
  control
• Experiencing poverty in the midst of plenty
  creates discontent and breeds crime
• Discontent plus lack of political solution equal
  crime
• Community based efforts seem to hold the greatest
  promise of crime control

14
Critical Feminist Theory

• Critical feminism view gender inequality as
  stemming form the unequal power of men and women
  in a capitalist society.
• Patriarchy system developed in which mens work
  was valued and womens work was devalued.
• The dual exploitation of women within the
  household and in the labor market means that
  women produce far greater surplus value for
  capitalists than men.

15
Power-Control Theory

• The view that gender differences in crime are a
  function of economic power and parental control
• Girls are controlled more closely than boys in
  traditional male-dominated households and there
  is gender equity in contemporary egalitarian
  homes

16
Peacemaking Criminology

• Approach that considers punitive crime control
  strategies to be counterproductive and favors the
  use of humanistic conflict resolution and
  mediation skills to prevent and control crime
• Offers a new approach to control crime
• Views the efforts of the state to punish and
  control as crime-encouraging rather than
  crime-discouraging

17
Critical Theory and Public Policy

• Seek to reduce conflict and competition in
  society
• If conflict and competition in society could
  somehow be reduced, it is possible that crime
  rates would fall
• Reduce harsh punishment of offenders
• Peacemakers look for ways to bring law violators
  back to the community
• Has adopted nonviolent methods and applied them
  to what is known as restorative justice

18
The Concept of Restorative Justice

• Using humanistic, non-punitive strategies to
  right wrongs and restore social harmony
• Encompasses a variety of programs and practice
• Requires that society address victims harms, and
  needs, holds offenders accountable to put right
  those harms, and involves victims, offenders, and
  communities in the process of healing

19
The Process of Restoration

• Crime is an offense against human relationships
• Victims and the community are central to justice
  processes
• The offender has personal responsibility to the
  victims and to the community
• The offender will develop improved competency and
  understanding

20
Restoration Programs

• negotiation
• mediation
• consensus building
• peacemaking
• sentencing circles

21
Restorative Justice Society and Justice System

• Community
• Schools
• Police
• Courts

22
Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ)

• The justice system should give equal weight to
• Hold offenders accountability to victims,
• Provide competency development for offenders in
  the system, and
• Ensure community safety.

23
Concerns about Restorative Justice

• Is it a political movement or a treatment
  process?
• Must be wary of cultural and social differences
• No single definition
• Difficult task to balance the needs of offenders
  with those of the victims
• Benefits may only work in the short term while
  ignoring long term treatment needs