crim lecture 14-20 Flashcards
1
Q
Is crime learned? - social learning theory
A
Social learning theories argue that we learn the norms, values, and motivations engage in crime and deviance → not inherent from birth
“The basic proposition is that the same learning process in a context of social structure, interaction, and situation, produces both conforming and deviant behavior”
These attitudes are learned from families, friends and through imitation
- Primary and secondary sources - ex media and pop culture
Learning pro-crime and deviance attitudes involves the same learning process as learning other behaviour → through interaction - symbolic interactionism
1
Q
Primary socialization
A
Primary socialization occurs during childhood
Our immediate family are the strongest influence on our behaviours
Through socialization we learn the norms, values, customs and manners of everyday life
→ pro social norms and values usually, but sometimes they can be deviant. This depends on parents and circumstances
- Learn basic concepts of right and wrong
2
Q
Secondary socialization
A
Occurs during adolescence
Our peers become the strongest influence on our behaviours
- They become a reference group - who we should be in society
- People with a strong peer group do better in school and work, outcasts are less likely to succeed
- Associations with negative peer groups tend to follow us and affect us longer into life
Peer groups can play a positive or negative role in our lives
Peer pressure can contribute to involvement with deviant or criminalized behaviours
3
Q
Learning through differential association
A
Crime is learned through a process called differential association
Principles of Criminology (Sutherland, 1939)
Crime was not the product of individual traits or socio-economic position
Crime is a product of normal learning processes that can affect anyone
Definitions favourable to crime are acquired through social interaction
- Defined and redefined through social interaction
- Direct association with criminal/deviant peers, secondary sources as well
4
Q
Sutherlands principles of differential association
A
Crime is learned:
→Crime is learned through interactions with others
→Crime is learned through interactions with intimate personal groups
→Learning crime includes specific techniques and attitudes, motives and rationalizations
→Different groups will have competing definitions of what is criminal, which leads to conflict
- Pro crime norms have been positively responded to in society
Criminal behaviour is seen as having more benefits than an unfavourable consequences
Differential associations can vary in frequency duration, priority and intensity
The process of differential association involves normal human learning process
Crime is an expression of general needs and values , but it is not explained by those general needs and values
- Rewards of crime, ex monetary rewards, respect, etc
→ Can receive the same benefits from law abiding behaviour → both behaviours have the same goals
5
Q
Differential association: how do we acquire definitions?
A
Definitions comprise our own values, beliefs, and attitudes about what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior
- Can be pro social or pro deviant
Definitions are acquired from primary and secondary sources
Definitions can also be general and specific in nature
- General could be moral/norms/beliefs/values or religious, and specific is depending on the situation -> symbolic interactionism
6
Q
The roles and types of definitions
A
We come to hold both positive and neutralizing definitions
- Neutralizing makes sense of breaking the law - rationalizing it, positive
The more pro crime definitions we hold, the more likely we are to engage in those activities
Pro crime definitions can be approving or neutralizing
Approving definitions frame crime in a positive light
Neutralizing definitions aid in excusing criminal behaviors
7
Q
Differential reinforcement
A
A differential association reinforcement theory of criminal behavior
Consistent with psychological theories of operant conditioning
- Hedonistic calculus - maximize pleasure, minimize pain
→ Shaped by direct conditioning
→ Ex negative reinforcement comes from sanctions in relation to behaviour
Behaviour can be learned either directly or indirectly:
- Behaviour is reinforced through both positive rewards and negative stimuli
- Positive reinforcement involves positive reactions to behaviour and achieving positive outcomes
Negative reinforcement can involve the removal of negative consequences or achieving negative outcomes
Differential reinforcement is based on the degree, probability and frequency of its occurrence
Social influences, such as peer groups, churches, friends, other institutions, have the strongest influence on behaviour
- Ex rational choice, the most effective sanction for preventing crime is informal sanctions - shame from peers, loss of respect
Behaviour can be learned through imitation
7
Q
Neutralization theory
A
Most people hold conventional values and beliefs
We learn techniques that allow them to rationalize and neutralize feelings of guilt that come with crime and deviance
Subterranean values exist alongside conventional values, no one is all good or all bad
People drift in and out of delinquency
Five primary techniques of neutralization:
1. Deny responsibility → “I had no choice”
2. Deny injury → “No one really got hurt”
3. Deny victim → “The victim’s fault”
4. Condemn the condemners → “Who are you to judge me, you’re the one who pushed me to do this”
5. Appeal to higher loyalties → “It was in defense of other social norms” - noble cause corruption ex. Planting drugs on a known drug dealer to convict them
8
Q
Assessing neutralization theory
A
Neutralization theory has proven to be influential.. But difficult to test
How do we know if someone applied these techniques before or after the act
If someone hold different values or beliefs do they need neutralizations
Despite these concerns, the main tenets of neutralization theory can be seen in different aspects of our criminal legal system
- Ex. criminals meeting the victims, seeing the harm they caused
9
Q
Social Learning Mechanisms
A
- Differential association: The balance of people and groups encouraging or discouraging criminal behavior provides the major immediate and intermediate social contexts in which social learning mechanisms operate
- Definitions –> “For example, peer pressures to go along can increase the odds of delinquency even when a youth defines the activity as wrong. Concern about parental reaction can inhibit delinquency even when a youth does not define the activity as something he or she ought not to do.”
- Imitation and differential reinforcement –> If the learning process involves observation of the rewards and punishments experienced by others, the social learning mechanism is vicarious learning. If the learning process involves personal or direct experience of rewards and punishment as a product of one’s own behavior, then the process is one of differential reinforcements”
10
Q
SSSL theory
A
In the SSSL approach, social learning is the principal mediating process by which social structure has consequences for criminal and delinquent behavior.
Social structural variables and factors are the primary macro-level and meso-level causes of crime, while the social learning variables reflect
the primary or proximate causes of criminal behavior that mediate the relationship between social structure and the behavior of individuals that make up group, community, and societal crime rates”
11
Q
Procedural justice
A
The process is more important than the result
- People can accept bad legal outcomes if they feel that good legal procedures were observed
12
Q
Four principles of justice
A
- Fairness is more important than favorability
- We compare our outcomes to other people - Procedure is more important than outcomes
- Criteria for decisions needs to be visible and accessible to people to accept the outcome - outcomes feel less personal - Habits matter more than choices
- Choices - choosing whether to obey or comply, habits - autopilot, what we do non consiouslsly - better predictors of who will obey the law - Legitimacy matters more than force
- Force - coercion, does not treat the root cause of crime
- Legitimacy - people are more likely to obey if they believe in the law
13
Q
The instrumental approach to procedural justice
A
Rational choice theories assume that individuals are:
- We are primarily motivated by self interest
- Calculate potential risks and rewards of courses of actions
- Seek out information that will help us make the best decision
Rational choice theories predict that legal compliance is a calculated response to the consequences for offence
- Although people become irrational when put in a room together (not rational choice)
14
Q
The Asch conformity experiments
A
Over time, people adapt their views to conform to the group
- People’s perceptions are guided by their surrounding social contexts
We are group animals,
Cognition is an evolutionary development
- Ability to pull information out of environment
- It developed after our ability to form group connections
- Individuals weigh many factors when making a judgment
15
Q
The normative approach: group dynamics matter
A
The better questions than rational choice:
- When do people make rational decisions?
- What other factors motivate decision making?
Deterrence is a limited tool - telling people not to do something
- What you want is voluntary compliance
- Personal morality/internalized obligations
- Legitimacy
16
Q
Internalized obligations
A
MADD example - Extending motherly compassion for victims of drunk driving
Linking personal morality to shared social values - safety, care for our children, responsibility for our actions / reputation
Norms are internalized, promoting compliance by pre-empting offense
Early intervention before the relevant decision contexts become real
A focus on shared values and experience
An emphasis on social, not legal consequences for offending
- Different from deterrence theory which is what will happen to you, not the victim
17
Q
Bad vibes, not procedural injustice per se that leads to noncompliance
A
- When citizens feel that authorities don’t have their best interest in mind, or are receiving unfair treatment, that leads to less belief in the rightousness of the law
- If we feel respected, we feel like we belong and we abide by group norms
- If we feel detested, we feel excluded and are likely to lash out
18
Q
Normative commitment through morality vs normative commitment through legitimacy
A
“Normative commitment through personal morality means obeying a law because one feels the law is just; normative commitment through legitimacy means obeying a law because one feels that the authority enforcing the law has the right to dictate behavior.”
19
Q
Although legitimacy and morality are similar, they are not the same
A
Legitimacy enforces the need to follow the law even when they don’t align with personal morals
20
Q
Moral leaders
A
During social dilemmas, society voluntarily elects leaders
Similarly, groups develop rules governing members’ conduct to preserve valuable social relationships. These informal rules are the precursors of formalized law
21
Q
Likelihood to violate the law under procedural justice
A
Four such factors are considered: deterrence, peer opinion, personal morality, and the evaluation of authorities”
- “Citizens with higher levels of support for the authorities are less likely to engage in behavior against the system”
22
Q
Police in contemporary society
A
- Increase in having private security guards
- 80% of crimes go unreported to the police
- Police needs our cooperation and help
- Special constables- campus safety(earlier known as campus safety)
- Police are the only public society given the power and authority by us to impose force on us. They have an immense power and with that power comes discretion
23
Social contract perspective - policing
The social contract sees police as a protective force against crime and social disorder.
Police is expected to be neutral and impartial
The police serve to protect society from crime and disorder.
The police role is positive or a net benefit to society.
24
The conflict perspective - policing
1. Critical view of policing
2. Idea- police is not neutral, they do not enforce law impartially
3. Instead, they support the state
4. The police role is to enforce the ‘status quo’.
- Powerful people misuse police to maintain the social hierarchy in the society.
5. Powerful groups shape which groups the police see as a ‘threat’
- Involvement in sex work, theft, and so on have more attention of people, therefore crimes committed by the working class
25
Role of the police
1. In a contemporary society is highly complex and diverse
2. They’re being asked to respond to service calls more than the actual emergency calls
3. The police have a unique status as the only 24/7 first-responder for almost any type of situation.
4. They represent the idea of law, safety and security in society. But, for some people police is more negative
26
Police as social agents
1. The primary function of the police is to maintain order and resolve disputes.
2. Police engage in patrol.
3. Police provide referrals.
4. Police complete administrative tasks (paperwork).
5. Community policing.
6. Should be more preventative in nature.
7. 80-20 rule: Most of what they do is conflict resolution, services and administrative paperwork and 20% is “crime fighting”
27
Role Conflict
When people feel overloaded they tend to experience: low self esteem, low job satisfaction
28
Role Ambiguity
* Police rely on ‘discretion’ to do their jobs.
* As a result, police can experience ‘role ambiguity’ when there is a lack of clarity as to what they should do and how they should do it.
* Police training rarely equips officers for the realities of the job.
* Police respond to complex encounters often with minimal information.
* Role ambiguity can lead to confusion, distrust, and withdrawal.
29
Police discretion
- When to enforce law and how to do it depends upon the judgment of the police
- Discretion is necessary
- Abuse can lead to racial discrimination
- Leads to distrust and unwilling to obey law
Police discretion is influenced by:
1. The characteristics of the situation.
2. The demeanour or attitude of the person. (Race, age, and gender.)
3. The characteristics of the neighbourhood.
4. Organizational factors.
{is it a high crime or low crime area}
30
Responding to Police Misconduct: Oversight and Accountability
- Abuses of police discretion are often framed as issues of misconduct.
- High-profile cases of misconduct can impact public perceptions of the police and their legitimacy.
- In response, police have faced increasing demands for transparency and oversight.
- Police oversight can stem from internal sources, external bodies, and the public.
- Police have historically resisted efforts to strengthen oversight and provide transparency
31
Re-Casting the Police Role: Community Policing
- Community policing seeks to move the focus of the police from a more reactive role to crime prevention.
- Through community policing, the police and public are recast as co-producers of community safety.
- Community policing acknowledges that police legitimacy is at the core of the police mandate.
- While popular, community policing is a contested and highly-debated topic.
32
Research Spotlight- Community Policing: Perceptions of Officers Policing Indigenous Communities
Examines perceptions of police work among 827 police officers policing Indigenous communities in Canada.
Officers in 2014 showed decreased support for community policing strategies and did not feel that policing Indigenous communities required a different style.
33
Centralized vs decentralized policing
- National, centralized, singular police forces are organized to enforce the law as if the entire country were a single jurisdiction under one set of laws.
- Decentralized systems of policing, like those that exist in the United States, Germany, Britain, and Canada concentrate police powers in a variety of state and federal locations, allowing each of these centers the authority to craft responses to local problems
34
Policing varies per country
As a society becomes less able to maintain social discipline through informal social processes, both the volume and the character of situations to which the police in different countries must respond will increase
Differences in the countries’ technological capabilities and population size contribute to policing expectations.
With the exception of the United States, where police spend more time processing crime and less time on service than police in similar countries, police in developed countries tend to spend more time engaged in attending to non crime matters and providing service, such a settling disputes
35
Police under democratic law
The principle of accountability to the rule of law requires that police officers serve a variety of functions– as rule enforcers, social servants, moralists, and street fighters– to name several important roles that police officers must fill. In diverse situations, officers must themselves decide which situations require them to play which roles
On the face of it, maintaining order seems to demand that all known violators of the law be arrested. Procedural protections, however, set limits on the manner in which violators may be apprehended.
Some laws cannot be enforced as they violate public mores or expectations → said laws are usually there due to legislative inaction, ex. Law against adultery
36
When do police enforce the law?
Scholars have found that instead of enforcing the law uniformly, police enforce the law selectively, sometimes neglecting to apply the law in situations that the text of the law defines as violations.
Police officers’ decision making has been attributed mainly to two types of factors, situational– based on the characteristics of the situation at hand, and attitudinal factors– linked to the officer’s beliefs and attitudes
Researchers note that police may base their decision to arrest on the severity of the offense; on characteristics of the suspect (sex, race, social, social class, demeanor, sobriety); on the characteristics of the victim; or on the relationship between the victim and the suspect
→ Police selectively enforce in minority communities
→ More likely to stop and search racial minorities and enforce formal sanctions
37
Police using force
When the police do use force, it typically occurs in the context of trying to make an arrest
The study also found that the force used by police is most likely to consist of shoving or pushing a suspect rather that discharging the officer’s firearm
38
Community vs aggressive policing
Community policing: emphasizes community and police cooperation in the maintenance of order. Community policing strives to make citizen and police coproducers of public order in part by increasing police accountability in all areas, including the use of force
Aggressive policing (‘‘broken windows’’ approach), seeks to reduce crime by increasing enforcement of ‘‘quality of life’’ crimes– public drinking, vandalism, and other order maintenance offenses. The emphasis on increased attention to crime and heightened enforcement may make regimes implementing aggressive policing more likely to use or abuse force.
39
Attitudinal factors in law enforcement
When police attitudes about the seriousness of the law determine whether or not it is enforced, police have the ability to nullify the law’s effect through inaction or through misapplication.
Police are more hesitant to respond to domestic violence calls or hate crimes
Female and minority officers have a deeper understanding of systemic factors than their white male counterparts
40
Categories of police encounters
Responding to crime, crime investigation, crime prevention, mediating disputes and quarrels, dealing with non crime situations and traffic control
41
Why do richer people encounter the police in more non-crime situations
Researchers have attributed the tendency of citizens in richer and more developed countries to encounter the police in non crime situations, or in the context of citizen-generated service calls, to two main factors.
→ First, in rural and less developed areas, other social groups may provide support in noncrime-related situations.
→ Second, the absence of communication technology may also make it more difficult for citizens to summon the police.
42
Opinions on differential treatment by police
Black and white respondents agreed that the police treated blacks differently than whites. Whites, however, believed that police officers’ actions were justified, while blacks ascribed officers’ discriminatory behavior to invidious motives
Many of the complaints about racial profiling occur in the context of the investigation of traffic offenses.
When the police treat law abiding minorities as if they are criminal suspects solely because of their race, fear and distrust is bred in these communities
43
Functions of community policing
Has four functions: (1) organizing community-based crime prevention; (2) reorienting patrol activities to emphasize the provision of services in nonemergencies; (3) increasing accountability to local communities; and (4) decentralizing command
When residents share crime-fighting responsibility with the police, the ‘‘successes’’ or blame for increases and decreases in the city’s crime rate is shared as well
44
Increasing police accountability
Liaison officers - The purpose of these officers is to develop relationships with individuals in the community, to build trust between the communities and the police, and to respond to these communities’ unique needs
Another method of increasing police accountability includes programs that allow citizens to observe the police.
45
Non State policing
Individuals engaged in private policing– security guards, private investigators, bouncers– may be performing similar activities to the public police, like investigation of crime, providing property and personal protection, surveillance activity, and order maintenance
→ Private police generally operate almost entirely in the private sphere, maintaining order and minimizing disruption within private spaces.
→ Second, in the vast majority of cases their role enforcing the criminal law is restricted to seeking the assistance of state-oriented police
→ Operating in the private sphere, without the authority to enforce criminal law, deprives private police of the legitimacy for their action that public police possess
46
Alternative policing
Alternative styles of policing need not originate from state inaction. Rather, communities and interest groups may themselves create alternate policing options because they view the state as ill equipped to provide services
Alternate policing styles may also develop because citizens question the state’s legitimacy to intervene in the community.
47
Protection of rights that police may violate
In the United States, attempts to hold police accountable for their actions have included the use of criminal process against officers, civil rights suits seeking dam-ages for violations of individual rights, and suits seeking injunctive relief.
Attempts to hold the police accountable for their actions can also occur when criminal defendants challenge police behavior. These defendants often argue that an individual police officer violated one of their rights under the United States Constitution.
48
Litigation is lawmaking
Litigation - lawsuit using a federal court of canada (fact check)
- Changes the way laws are interpreted and how laws will be used in the future
Lawsuits involve claims made by real people.
Judgements determine outcomes of particular cases
- But their real social impact is much broader
- Civil law pushing back against segregation
- Large boost in legal mobilization in the charter of rights of Canada → gave the government policy to interpret provincial law
Judges “exercise power on the basis of their judgment that their decisions will produce socially desirable results.”
→ Ex. the example of the performer from the beginning of the semester - protecting/owning one's image → there was no law against image, but property so judges applied pre existing laws to cover the ownership of one's image
→ The example of the man who got himself arrested to prove discriminatory practices - judge ruled against the man based on the application of pre existing laws
49
What is a case?
Involves a claim on a statute or right to protect against a harm
- Have to be able to point to a law that protects you from what happened (harm)
- Statute → law passed by parliament/legislature, expanding
- Rights → Charter defines rights, very fixed broad policies - signal moral commitments, but hard to use in a claim as they are so broad
Judicial decisions on cases give practical meaning to the statute/right
Decisions are recorded as precedents that inform rulings on future cases
- Precedents - previous rulings → judges use precedents to establish rulings of future cases
- This means that the outcome of any particular case can have implications beyond the case itself
50
How does a court get its cases?
1. It starts with an alleged violation
2. Then, construct a lawsuit
3. Forming alliances - parties interested in the outcomes of your particular case
4. Climbing the ladder of appeals
51
Mark Andrews case
Resident but not a citizen of British Columbia
- Denied admission to the law society of British Columbia - a private organization because of his citizenship status → alleged violation
Constructing a lawsuit:
- Naming: what is the problem
- Blaming: Who is responsible
- Claiming: what is the right that should protect me
In this case, equality rights.
Section 15, section about “in particular”, claim that the list is not exhaustive
- Forming alliances - Organizations for marginalized communities backing Andrews, as if the judges expand their rulings past parts of section 15 to include protections of their groups
→ Interveners - file briefs to the courts, sending previous cases
Rights vs. rights
- Arguing using section 1 using the language of “reasonable limits” and “demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society” because they’re a private organization not a state
Climbing the ladder of appeals
- Supreme court of BC: saying this isn’t discrimination
- Then Appeals to British court of Columbia: it is unreasonable
- Supreme court of Canada: weighing in when the court of BC is involved
→ First section 15 case heard by the supreme court
52
The Andrews test
1. There is actual differential treatment
2. Based on one of the enumerated prohibited ground in s.15 or one that is analogous to those grounds
3. Which is discriminatory because of an imposed burden or denied benefit
→ Material basis to be a standard of how we apply section 15
Andrews test was used in Halpern v Canada, 2003
→ Sexuality based discrimination is analogous to gender based discrimination
53
Sum up of legal mobilization lecture
Law enforcement is not just for the cops: citizens play a role by calling in gray areas, contested zones, unruled parts of the law for judges to weigh in
No right is ever final - the can grow, and can also contract
Litigation makes law - assigns meaning to legal protection
- The charter is made, and remade in courts
This means individual problems can make a big impact on what is generally protected by law
54
Litigation
the process of taking legal action
55
Policy activism
- Legal mobilization
→ Legal mobilization has been variously described as a “process by which legal norms are invoked to regulate behaviour”; the translation of policy preferences into specific outcomes through “an assertion of one’s rights”; and a “planned effort to influence the course of judicial policy development to achieve a particular policy goal.”
- Remedial decree litigation → the type of legal proceedings generated by legal mobilization
1. The trigger (event that initiates case),
2. Liability (The liability and remedy phases form the core of remedial decree ll litigation. Litigants must develop an adequate record to support the court’s liability findings and subsequent remedial order.),
3. Remedy → The remedial process may consist solely of negotiations between the parties to produce a remedy that is simply approved by the court. On other occasions, it is necessary for the court to. impose a remedy following an adversarial remedial hearing.
4. Post-decree phases of litigation. → The post-decree phase is concerned with the implementation, evaluation, and refinement of the initial remedy.
- Judicial policymaking → court decisions that form as a result of remedial decree litigation
56
Development of legal mobilization
Credit for the systematic development of legal mobilization usually goes to two..groups:..the.American..Civil Liberties Union| (ACLU) and the National Association.for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
- Based largely on the NAACP’s experience, conventional wisdom held that the principal reason for legal mobilization was political disadvantage)
- Only repeat-player litigants, with accumulated legal expertise and extensive legal resources, were likely to mobilize the law successfully to achieve long-term programmatic objectives.
- Groups without political and economic resources were also unlikely to possess the legal resources necessary to sustain systematic litigation campaigns.
Litigation could produce social reform at best indirectly, by contributing to a broader process of political mobilization in which interests are activated, organized, and realigned.
57
The charter
Charter has expanded the range of social and political issues within the jurisdiction of Canadian courts.
Litigants have been successful in persuading American federal courts to participate actively in shaping and administering public policy in areas such as zoning and land-use planning, housing, social welfare, transportation, education, and the operation of complex institutions like prisons and mental health facilities.
58
Jordan rule
A unanimous Court set an upper limit of eighteen months on trial delays in provincial courts and of thirty months in superior courts.
59
Four core ideas in the analysis of legal mobilization
1. Studies of mobilizations begin with and focus on actions of legal subjects, especially non-official legal actors → decentering courts and focusing on the individual, especially the perspectives of minorities
2. Studies of legal mobilization tend to identify ligation as just one potential dimension or phase of a larger, complex, dynamic multistage process of disputing among various parties → Most disputes begin with “grievances” but don’t make it to the courts, hence an examination of actors within the dispute that is not centered around the court system
3 . Scholars interested in legal mobilization tend to view the choices of actors who generate litigation as well as their effects or impacts as typically complex, indeterminate, and contingent. → A lot of litigation is threatened with the goal of avoiding a trial. Winning in court can still be extremely costly.
4. Virtually all studies of legal mobilization emphasize the capacity of citizens to mobilize law is highly equal. → Law works to maintain the status quo, thus reproducing inequalities, using hegemony. It is although possible for those of less power to occasionally mobilize law in their favour.
60
Big idea of social stratification lec
Critical criminology is a set of perspectives that challenge mainstream perspectives on law and order
In a socially stratified society, factors such as gender, residential status and race divide groups into social classes
Racialized and gendered hierarchies are embedded in our daily lives and social institutions and serve to structure our interactions
61
Critical criminology perspective
A group of theoretical perspectives that challenge mainstream criminological approaches
Economic, social class, and racial divisions along with power imbalances in society contribute to criminalization
- Strain
Through criminalization powerful groups use the law, the police, and the wider criminal justice system to enforce social control
- The word criminal is not applied equally, disproportionately minority groups making up the composition of the criminal justice system
The criminal justice system is designed to reproduce and maintain the status quo
62
Consensus perspectives on social order
- The consensus perspective argues that most people agree on norms and values
- The law is an expression of those collective norms and values
- The law is applied equally and without preference → Agents of the law should be working to produce the same outcomes for everyone
- The criminal justice system is focused on producing the best outcomes for society
- Breaking the law is a harm against society
63
Pluralist perspectives on social order
- Modern society is characterized by a high degree of diversity and low levels of consensus on shared norms and values
- These differences include divergent viewpoints on the content of the law and how it should be applied
- However, there is agreement in the rule of law as a means of ensuring peaceful coexistence
- This view underscores a significant portion of contemporary criminological thinking
64
Conflict perspectives on social controls
- Modern society is characterized by social conflict
- Dominant or powerful groups are in conflict with marginalized or disadvantaged groups
- The law serves the needs and interests of the powerful few
- The criminal justice system maintains the status quo
- Powerful groups use the law to control ‘dangerous’ groups
65
Marxist perspectives on social class (the two populations)
Proletariat → workers, contribute labour in exchange for compensation
Bourgeois → capitalist ruling class, controls the means and methods of production, have a stake in maintaining the status quo to stay in power and prevent proletariat from gaining power
Social conflict is a natural product of the capitalist economic system…
66
Crime in a capitalist economic system
Crime is a natural byproduct of capitalism
- Wanting items, but unable to afford them
- Capitalism creates the economic conditions related to crime
- In particular, property crime is engendered by capitalism
- Capitalism encourages people to pursue their self interests rather than the interests of the greater good
- Under capitalism, we are encouraged to be consumers seeking unattainable lifestyles
- Wealth is being accumulated with the 1%, lowest and highest class is growing and middle class is shrinking
67
Conflict and criminalization
Social conflict between classes contributes to criminalization
Class based societies are socially stratified
Our class position is based on ascribed and achieved characteristics:
- Ascribed - what we were born with
- Achieved - work one puts in for example to gain education or even through illegitimate means
Social status grants powerful groups the ability to shape the law and how it is applied
The police, the courts, and other arms of criminal justice system work to reproduce pre existing inequalities
68
Race and racialization
Race has historically been seen as a biological construct
Early theories of race were used to justify the oppression of marginalized groups, including practices of slavery and segregation
Racial categories were constructed in relation to ‘whiteness’ → seen as neutral
Race categories as a biological construct have been discredited
- Physical features tell us very little about biological differences between people
69
Race as a social construct
Race categories as a biological construct has been discredited
Race as a social construct has an enormous impact on the structure and functioning of contemporary society
Through racialization certain characteristics and behaviours are associated with people based on their supposed race
Racialization contributes to the perpetuation of social, political and economic hierarchies
70
The racialization of crime
Powerful groups in society have the ability to shape the content of the law and how it is enforced
The criminal justice serves to perpetuate and enforce racial hierarchies
Certain types of crime are associated with racialized groups - this is reflected in the racialization of crime and the criminalization of race
- These groups suffer from over policing
One of the primary harms of racial biases in policing is racial profiling → race is used as a proxy for risk instead of legitimate reasons
- Impacts police legitimacy → less likely to call the police when we have a problem, less likely to report crimes or help police when they ask questions.
71
Feminist criminology
Primarily emerged during the 1960s and 70s
Feminist criminology challenged central assumptions and stereotypes about women's involvement with crime, both as offenders and victims
- Also as researchers, in criminology fields
The social world is fundamentally shaped by relations of sex and gender
Gender norms serves to structure the nature of our society and the functioning of our social institutions
- Maintain fundamentally gendered hierarchy to maintain the patriarchy over institutions and daily life
72
Multiracial or intersectional feminist theory
Rooted in critical race and black feminist thought
Social and gender relations are shaped by race, socioeconomic status and sexuality - together, these factors shape our social location
People experience both marginalization and oppression in different ways
- The experiences of all women in society are not equal → SES is another factor
The law, the police, the correctional system and the broader criminal justice system are both racialized and gendered
73
Strategies of racializing crime
Two of the most common practices are the over-emphasizing of crimes committed by people of colour, and the use of specific terms and categories in conversations about racialized groups and crime.
→ For example, black suspects are more likely to be represented as superpredators, while black victims are not considered as newsworthy as white victims → stories of racialized people usually include crime in the media
→ Terms like “illegal immigrant” and “gangs” are used to make racialized people the “other”
→ Effect of structural racism, the criminal justice system is the “white man’s justice”
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The criminalization of racialized people
The Canadian government continues to pursue a crime agenda that includes more numerous and lengthy prison terms, mandatory minimum sentences, and tougher penalties for drug and sex offences
→ The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues that Aboriginal people will be hardest-hit by the new legislation
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Criminalization
refers to “the institutionalized process through which certain acts and behaviours are selected and labelled as ‘crimes’ and through which particular individuals and groups are subsequently selectively identified and differentially policed and disciplined”
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Populist punitiveness
“politicians encourage punitive laws and sentences and thereby improve their chances of reelection by making such responses to indicators of the public mood or sentiment” → Increased fear of crime resulted in increase fear of the “racialized other”
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Cycle of racialized other:
Regardless of whether one sees the problem as one of “bad people,” “bad decisions,” or something more complex, the disproportionate representation of racialized people (primarily black and Aboriginal) in the Canadian criminal justice system reinforces and increases the fear of crime for the white majority, who are then more likely to implement criminal justice reforms that continue to disadvantage racialized groups.
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Domestic violence in a racialized context
Efforts by judges to be more culturally aware have arguably relied on an impoverished notion of culture that exists in a “timeless and unchangeable vacuum outside of patriarchy, racism, imperialism and colonialism,” resulting in the re-victimization of women
Aboriginal women have pointed out how current models of restorative justice, or Aboriginal justice, are male centred and culturally inappropriate, and therefore, do not correspond to the values and justice practices of the communities to which they are being applied
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Canadian media in racialization of crime
The media’s complicity in bolstering political agendas that consistently frame racialized people as outsiders to the Canadian polity stands in stark contrast to the omnipresent rhetoric of inclusiveness and multiculturalism.
By creating a culture of fear about criminal victimization and suggesting that racialized people are to blame, politicians are able to capitalize on middle-class anxieties.
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Impacts of racialization
Employment and unemployment rates for racialized and non-racialized Canadians highlight how the labour market is “colour coded,” where racialized women experience the highest rates of unemployment and are more likely to be paid less when they are employed
Prisons and jails are composed disproportionately of non-white populations. Imprisonment is the default solution for capitalism’s expendable, surplus, and predominantly racialized population
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Difference between orthodox and critical criminologists
An important difference between orthodox and critical criminologists is the focus on the flaws in the fabric of societies that breed, create, and sustain criminality, rather than flaws in the makeup of individuals who commit crime
Includes crimes of the affluent - such as human rights violations, corporate price fixing, and political corruption
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What do all critical criminologists reject?
All critical criminologists reject repressive policies and unjust criminal justice practices such as:
- “zero tolerance policing” (e.g., criminalizing incivilities like panhandling),
- Widenet police “stop and frisk” practices that target suspects primarily on the basis of race and social class,
- “three strikes and you’re out” sentencing,
private prisons, and
- coercive counselling therapy.
In contrast, they regard major structural and cultural changes within society as essential steps to reduce crime and to promote justice.
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What do critical criminologists call for
Radical social transformation → essential in reducing the crime rate and calling for reform in the criminal justice system, critical criminologists also propose progressive short term policies that target the major political, cultural, and economic forces that propel people to crime, such as poverty, sexism, and deindustrialization.
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Critical criminologists perspective on social change
Recognize that change is unlikely to be immediate, and endorse a number of short term, progressive policy proposals that “chip away” at the political–economic status quo
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Critical Criminologist policies:
- Full and quality employment;
- A higher minimum wage;
- Quality healthcare and affordable higher education;
- Eliminating the physical punishment of children;
- Integrating families into a network of kin and community;
- Promoting racial/ethnic and gender equity in the workplace;
- Housing subsidy and refurbishment programs;
- Improved public transportation;
- Quality state sponsored childcare.
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The left and tough on crime policies - left realism
The general failure to acknowledge working class crime came at a great price to the left. It indirectly helped conservative politicians in several countries to claim opposition to street crime as their own issue, giving them room to generate ideological support for harsh “law and order” policies.
Moreover, the left’s minimization of the seriousness of the inner city crime and/or drug problems helped “to perpetuate an image of progressives being both fuzzy minded and, worse, unconcerned about the realities of life for those ordinary Americans who are understandably frightened and enraged by the suffering and fear crime brings to their communities and families”
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Feminist Criminology
Older theories tended to exclude women when studying criminality, which is now changing
It is misleading to paint all feminists with the same brush. There are at least 12 distinct brands of feminism, and there are major debates within each one → Feminism defined as “a set of theories about women’s oppression and a set of strategies for change”
Feminist criminologists have conducted extensive theoretical work on a myriad of important problems, including female gangs, violence against women, women and girls' pathways to crime, drugs, and moral panics about female youth violence
Yet, since feminist theoretical work challenges “male centered” ways of explaining deviance, crime, and social control, it is constantly challenged and often ridiculed by conservative students, practitioners, and academics.
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The bridge/big idea of is law for everyone?
- Structural barriers - law actively discriminates,
- Cultural barriers - the way the law is interpreted that reproduces inequality in the court system
- What does the justice system offer its victims - used to be seen as a narrow minded question
- Issues of access are issues of justice
- Courts try to replicate similar outcomes for similar cases - contributes to people’s view of the law
→ Social inequalities outside the courtroom make it difficult to reach the courtroom
→ Structural inequalities inside the courtroom produce unequal outcomes from the courtroom
→ Courts may aim for impartiality, but court actors may not be able to check their biases at the door → can influence outcomes, cannot be stopped by rules and procedures
→ Courts have a monopoly on solving disputes - maintain legitimacy by being the only governing body on procedural justice
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Why wouldnt a victim of sexual assault report the crime
83% of all sexual assaults in Canada are not reported to the police
- This is an estimate, likely much higher as people not reporting to the police are not likely to report on victimization surveys
1. Hypothesis one: the victim is not aware of their rights
A sense of guilt (misplaced) or shame may lead to not reporting
2. Hypothesis two : victim may not believe that courts will take their case seriously → against the law
3. Hypothesis three: The costs of even a successful criminal trial may be too high
- Social and cultural costs, not necessarily financial
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Harvey Weinstein
Surrounding knowledge about how he was sexually abusive, although no legal repercussions
New york times article → harvey had connections within politics and reporting, aggressive against critics, the first person to come forward gets the brunt of the social impacts so mass reporting gives a layer of protection
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Growth in reporting due to ___
When me too movement grew popular, reporting of sexual assault incresed (october 2017)
Increase in reporting over ten years later because of how the movement helped bring sexual assault into focus
Increase in Quebec’s reporting, likely due to the french version of the hashtag which translates to “name your pig” → emphasis on solidarity and mobilization against assaulters
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The court process may create more trauma than it resolves
Court procedures can be time consume and resource intensive
- Time, emotional bandwidth, exhaustive processes
Trials are also very public affairs and expose victims to social stigma
- Anita hill and Christine ford report against powerful men → example of stigma and public scrutiny
Secondary victimization: prosecuting a crime can mean reliving trauma
- Rape kit, answering questions to officers, the trial itself and its outcome
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The criminal justice system frequently delivers unsatisfactory outcomes - is law for everyone?
Criminal sentences are rare, of cases that do go to trial, only 42% result in a guilty verdict
- This leads to only around 3 or 4 percent of cleared cases
Most alleged assaults have no witnesses other than the accuser and the accused
- Criminal courts are beyond a reasonable doubt
Criminal courts are for sanctions, rather for the benefit of victims → protection of societal values, less focus on the victim
Survivors are turning to civil alternatives → more about restitutions for the accuser
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Problems with civil trials too in reporting sexual assault
- Structural players - money, resources, experience → one shotters/ repeat players
- Harm vs intent
→ Have to demonstrate intention
- How do you prove discrimination leads to the harm?
- The role of unconscious bias
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Statistics for sexual assault cases
Sexual assault is the only violent crime in Canada that is not in decline, according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation. What’s more, only a small minority of survivors report their assault, according to a Statistics Canada study on self-reported sexual assault released in July 2017.
The Globe and Mail’s Unfounded investigation reported earlier this year that Canadian police dismiss one in five cases as baseless—these dismissed cases represent hundreds of people who may have never have had their voices heard.
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Reasons sexual assault cases are dropped
As the Statistics Canada report shows, cases can be dropped for any number of reasons. It could be due to lack of evidence. It could be because the accused completed a diversionary program, like Talusan’s attacker did, and won’t face prosecution or have a criminal record. It could also be because the parties involved opted to pursue restorative justice.
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Benefits of civil trials for sexual assault
In the civil process, the case is about what happened to the survivor and how it affected them. Most importantly, they call the shots. If at any time they decide they’ve had enough, Hishon can assess where she is in the litigation and if it’s time to start discussing settlement.
→ Financial compensation can be put towards the survivor’s healing and make up for time taken off of work to heal
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Criticisms of criminal trials for sexual assault
The Crown attorneys doesn’t represent survivors, they actually represent the state. “It is not the complainant’s case,” Dale says. “She is merely a witness to the crime, albeit a witness in the most direct and personal sense, because the crime was literally on her body.”
A large amount of cases don’t even make it to trial, then it is possible if they do that the survivor experiences secondary victimization by reliving their trauma on the stand
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Workplace discrimination
In interviews, plaintiffs recounted how they quickly found themselves in what seemed a maze of manipulative lawyers, judges in cahoots with employers, and unreasonable or mysterious rules that prevented them from ever telling their stories. → Legal jargon that is hard for the everyday person to understand and work with
Under the current system, people who believe they have been targets of discrimination must file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or a state or local agency, and then pursue litigation
Some of the rise in litigation in 1998 can be explained by the 1991 Civil Rights Act and the 1992 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—legislation whose track record of helping its intended beneficiaries is mixed, but which nonetheless spurred attention. → workplace litigation has since dropped in 2006
Just 2 percent of cases filed actually result in a plaintiff win
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Employment discrimination laws
Although employers complain about the hassles of employee lawsuits, employment discrimination law favours employers in both overt and subtle ways
Formal legality can make the law work to an employer’s benefit.
→ Judges treat the mere existence of personnel practices, non-discrimination policies, and diversity programs as evidence discrimination hasn’t been taking place. They fail to question whether these practices are really implemented or truly effective at protecting workers from discrimination.
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Promising alternatives
Job segregation, for example, can be mitigated when employers formalize their processes for posting job openings, establish clear criteria for selecting candidates, and hold administrators accountable for improving the representation of women and people of color.
Some employee involvement programs adopted by companies to increase worker efficiency actually end up helping white women, black women, and black men enter managerial ranks → more opportunities to demonstrate their skills to try to mitigate racial stereotypes
What this sociological research shows us, however, is that law has both real payoffs and serious limitations as a strategy for promoting equality.
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The discrimination frame
Miranda Massie, a civil rights attorney argued political activism and class-action lawsuits together can create disincentives for discrimination
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Social science and the law
Judges, too, tend to minimize or ignore social scientific literature. And, many basic legal concepts are at odds with sociological findings on inequality, workplace discrimination, and effective solutions. → Scientific evidence doesn’t always fit neatly within a legal framework
Sociology reveals the subtleties, nuances, tensions, and contradictions that abound when law is put into practice in the real world. The value of sociology lies in its ability to complicate our assumptions about law and demonstrate both its promises and pitfalls.
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Police as crime fighters
Police is expected to be enforcing the law
- Police investigate crimes.
-. Catch criminals and lay charges.
- Respond to emergencies.
- Use force, when needed.
- More reactive in nature.
