Social Reaction Theories of Crime

1. Social Reaction Theories of Crime Chapter 9

2. Social Reaction Theories of Crime • Focus upon social and institutional responses to the individual. • View the individual as a largely passive being who is forced into the role of a criminal by societal definitions or by the reactions of others. • The Labeling Perspective • Critical Criminology

3. Labeling Theory • Has its foundation in the works of George Herbert Meade and Charles Horton Cooley. • Cooley is best known for his development of the “looking-glass self.” • The dynamic interplay between the individual and others leads to the development of a self-concept that affects subsequent behavior. • A formal response from the criminal justice system forces the individual to reassess his or her personal identity.

4. Labeling Theory, cont. • Of primary importance to labeling theorists is what transpires after an act, not what caused or precipitated the act. • Second, deviance is not something inherent in the act. • Third, the labeling of an individual is a process of symbolic interaction between the “deviant” and significant others. • Lemert referred to this a secondary deviance. • Fourth, the labeling process is affected by who does the labeling and by how the labeled person reacts to the label. • Fifth, the act of labeling may lead to retrospective interpretation of the individual’s prior behavior. • Sixth, a deviant label such as that of “criminal” or “drug abuser” becomes the pivotal (master) status that overrides other personal attributes. - becker • Consequently, the probability of further criminal behavior is enhanced.

5. Labeling Theories • Frank Tannenbaum - Dramatization of Evil • Wrote Crime and the Community (1938). • Contended that criminals are not inherently different from the rest of the population, but that specific acts in a person’s overall repertoire of behaviors are singled out and brought to public attention. • Dramatization of evil – social reaction whereby the individuals act now causes all of his acts to be looked at w/ suspicion. Gradual shift from behavior labeled deviant to the person being labeled as deviant. • Legal relativism - acts are neither inherently good nor evil. – your social status or the situation dictates how society responds to the same actions by different people (male w/ female, female w/ male) • Edwin M. Lemert - Primary and Secondary Deviance • Primary deviance - occasional or situational behavior that may be excused or rationalized by the actor and/or the social audience. • Secondary deviance - the result of a dynamic interaction between the individual’s deviation and the societal response to the deviation.

6. Edwin M. Schur -Radical Nonintervention • Wrote Radical Nonintervention ( 1973) • Argued that society should take a more tolerant stance and allow adolescents to experiment with a wide array of behavioral alternatives. • Argued that being labeled “delinquent” is a master status and hard to overcome. • Retrospective interpretation - the process by which people reinterpret an individual’s behavior in light of new information concerning that individual.

7. Critical Criminology • Karl Marx (1818-1883) - Conflict Theory • Argued that the economic base shaped all social arrangements. • The division of labor led to the alienation of workers. • Two opposing groups - • Bourgeoisie • Proletariat • Lumpen proletariate – fringe, do nothing, live off labor of others • Surplus value – root of the problem • Lumpen proletariate – fringe, do nothing, live off labor of others • Group Conflict Perspective • George Vold - Group Conflict Theory • Viewed humans as group oriented and society as a collection of groups, each with its own interests.

8. The Radical Era - 1960s-1970s • Austin Turk - Crime and the Legal Order • Richard Quinney - The Social Reality of Crime • William Chambliss and Robert Seidman - Law, Order, and Power • Contemporary Critical Thought • Left Realism - based on the following four premises: • Street crime is a serious problem for the working class. • Working-class crime is primarily perpetrated against other members of the working class. • It is relative poverty, not absolute poverty, that breeds discontent, and this discontent without a political solution creates crime. • Crime can be reduced through implementation of practical, socialist policies.

9. Contemporary Critical Thought, cont. • Feminism - Three major variations • Radical feminism - identifies a patriarchal social order in which men dominate women as the fundamental issue. • Marxist feminism - sees women as dominated by men as a result of the disproportionate location of economic power among men. • Socialist feminism - sees capitalism as inevitably flawed, producing a range of oppression, including that experienced by women. • Post-modernism - rejects the notion that rationalism and science merit a superior position in explaining the way things are.

10. Conflict Theory Research on Conflict Theory Policy Relevance of Conflict Theory