Karl Marx said that crime is the product of unjust and alienating social conditions. According to the Social Conflict theory crime is the result of class conflict. All of the criminal activities have political meanings behind them. The Social Conflict theory is more interested in groups rather than individuals. It is usually the power groups that tend to win the conflicts.
Criminalization is an institutional arrangement that emerged from institutional forces such as vagrancy laws and being tough on crime, resulting in African American men being criminalized and having a negative impact on the solidarity of communities making it unsustainable. When these laws take place, it leaves the African American men feeling vulnerable and attached. Social institutional arrangements cause inequality. In the New Jim Crow book, it is clear how the laws are so tough on crime and it causes Many unnecessary incarcerations which is no better because in these facilities there is gang violence that just puts these “criminals” back in a bad environment. “Race had become, yet again, a powerful wedge, breaking up what had been a solid
Crime is a problem for all people. The lower classes commit crime for survival while the upper class commits crime to supplement capital and maintain control. Research also highlight that middle class crime is the most popular while lower class neighborhoods are deteriorating. This paper will focus on “A General Theory of Crime” using classical theory (Schmalleger, 2001, p.96-98), such as the relationship between crime and socioeconomic class structure. The essential nature of crime and results of scientific and popular conceptions of crime.
Conflict view protects the upper classes’ power and position by adding to the low... ... middle of paper ... ...els. Merton theorized that the social imbalance served as the key cause of crime and deviance. Individuals will always want what they cannot obtain. Therefore, their forceful drive will cause them to deviate from the acceptable means and begin committing unacceptable acts. Murder erupts when poorer individuals begin envying or becoming jealous of what wealthier individuals have.
This semester opened my eyes to a different analysis of the crime and the criminal; an understanding of... ... middle of paper ... ...he views of Karl Marx (1818-18833) about discipline and social control. Marxists concept implements a ruling ideology which has the aim to control and repress the crimes (Jones, 2005). On the other hand, Foucault (1979) pointed out that the Marxist concept was too brutal since it did not look at the correction of the behaviour and it focused on making the delinquents to regret their action causing them physical suffering. Shore (2005:2, 31) explains how the punishment changed over the time from “public, physical sanctions, such as whipping (…) to the more private punishment of penal servitude.” During the module I have also looked at the purpose of sentencing. The courts which area dealing with the offenders take into account the reduction of crime, the rehabilitation of the offenders, the protection of the public and justice for the victims (Marsh et al.
Poor people in high crime neighborhoods are the police’s main target because it is easier to catch the weak and the small; whereas it is harder to get the rich people convicted. Jeffrey Reiman (1996) argues the legal system employs unfairness between the poor and the rich. In his work, “…And The Poor Get Prison: Economic Bias in American Criminal Justice,”he argues that the justice system gives the impression that a poor person is more likely to be arrested, and, if they are arrested, charged, than a middle or upper class person; it sends a message to society that the wealth, can get away with breaking the law similar to what often happens in a court room (Reiman, 1996). Also, there have been scenarios where police officers will handle the matter themselves without any approval by the judicial system, in which they use maximum force against an innocent African American. In fact, many of the issues concerning criminal justice are caused by a mixture of racism and class disparity and, therefore, African Americans and Latinos experience disparity because police employ misconduct against
Meanwhile a Developmental theorist would most likely argue that everyone has the potential for shoplifting considering that the propensity for crime is present in all but more prominent in some, and that a higher propensity for crime coupled with negative social experiences is what gives rise to crime. From the get go one can notice that the causes of crimes for both of these theories differ greatly. At the core of the Social Conflict theory is discord and between an upper and lower class the haves and the have not’s. Meanwhile at the core of the developmental theory are personal characteristics and social experiences. Besides the causes of crimes the theories differ in other less visible aspects like the focus, attitudes and solutions to criminal and deviant
Ideally, the theory bases its argument on the economical disadvantages social classes in a society claiming that lower class neighborhoods cause stress, frustration, and disorganization that motivates individuals to commit crimes. For instance, children raised in lower class families face hardships, which in return, creates strains. In the event they succumb to the strains, any slight opportunity to commit a crime, like stealing, is quickly utilized. In addition, children raised in upper class neighborhoods are prone to criminal offenses that are associated with influence. Research by Einstadter, Werner & Stuart (2006) says that criminal offenses, such as drug abuse, are more common to people raised in wealthy families.
In order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the criminal behavior theories, the word theory needs to be defined. “A theory is an explanation. It tells why or how things are related to each other. A theory of crime explains why or how a certain thing or certain things are related to criminal behavior.” (Bohn and Vogel) Theories of criminal behavior are to have their strengths and weaknesses to their explanations about what they are to mean. A list of criminal behavior theories are; consensus theory, conflict theory, rational choice theory, psychological theories, social theories, learning theories and critical theories.
Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes. Property Crime can be defined as the unauthorized taking or damaging of an individual’s personal belongings.