Criminal Justice: Chapter 9 (Conflict Theory)

Front 1

antithesis

Back 1

An opposing argument.

Front 2

capitalist bourgeoisie

Back 2

The owners of the means of production.

Front 3

communist manifesto

Back 3

In this document, Marx focused his attention on the economic conditions perpetuated by the capitalist system. He stated that its development had turned workers into a dehumanized mass who lived an existence that was at the mercy of their capitalist employers.

Front 4

correctionalism

Back 4

Research conducted by mainstream liberal/positivist criminologists designed to unmask the weak and powerless members of society so they can be better dealt with by the legal system.

Front 5

crimes of reduction

Back 5

Crimes that are committed when the offended party experiences a loss of some quality relative to his or her present standing. Their loss can come about if they are victims of robbery or theft, but they also may be victimized if their dignity is stripped from them when they are taunted by racists.

Front 6

crimes of repression

Back 6

Crimes that are committed when members of a group are prevented from achieving their fullest potential because of racism, sexism, or some other status bias.

Front 7

deconstructionist analysis

Back 7

An approach that focuses on the use of language by those in power to define crime based on their own values and biases; also called postmodernist.

Front 8

dialectic method

Back 8

For every idea, or thesis, there exists an opposing argument, or antithesis. Since neither position can ever be truly accepted, the result is a merger of the two ideas, a synthesis. Marx adapted this analytic method for his study of class struggle.

Front 9

doing gender

Back 9

Men's struggle to dominate women to prove their manliness. Crime is a vehicle for men to do gender because it separates them from the weak and allows them to demonstrate physical bravery. Violence directed toward women is an especially economical way to demonstrate manhood.

Front 10

elite deviance

Back 10

White-collar and economic crimes.

Front 11

imperatively coordinated associations

Back 11

These associations are comprise of two groups: those who possess authority and use it for social domination and those who lack authority and are dominated.

Front 12

instrumentalists

Back 12

The view that the criminal law and criminal justice system are solely an instrument for controlling the poor, have-not members of society; the state is the tool of the capitalists.

Front 13

integrative-constitutive theory

Back 13

This theory attempts to show how crime and its control cannot be separated from the structural and cultural contexts in which it is produced. In our postmodern society, unequal power relations, built on human differences, provide the conditions that define harm and therefore crime.

Front 14

left realism

Back 14

A branch of conflict theory that holds that crime is a real social problem experienced by the lower classes and that lower-class concerns about crime must be addressed by radical scholars.

Front 15

lumpen proletariat

Back 15

The fringe members at the bottom of society who produce nothing and live, parasitically, off the work of others.

Front 16

marginalization

Back 16

Displacement of workers, pushing them outside the economic and social mainstream.

Front 17

norm resistance

Back 17

Interaction between authorities and subjects that eventually produces open conflict between the two groups that can take on a number of different forms.

Front 18

peacemaking movement

Back 18

A branch of conflict theory that stresses humanism, mediation, and conflict resolution as a means to end crime.

Front 19

postmodernist

Back 19

Approach that focuses on the use of language by those in power to define crime based on their own values and biases; also called deconstructionist.

Front 20

preemptive deterrence

Back 20

Efforts to prevent crime through community organization and youth involvement.

Front 21

productive forces

Back 21

Technology, energy sources, and material resources.

Front 22

productive relations

Back 22

The relationships that exist among the people producing goods and services.

Front 23

radical theory

Back 23

The view that crime is a product of the capitalist system; Marxist criminology.

Front 24

semiotics

Back 24

The use of language elements as signs or symbols beyond their literal meaning.

Front 25

social reality of crime

Back 25

The view that the main purpose of criminology is to promote a peaceful just society.

Front 26

structural locations

Back 26

Areas conducive to crime.

Front 27

structural Marxist theory

Back 27

The view that the law and the justice system are designed to maintain the capitalist system and that members of both the owner and worker classes whose behavior threatens the stability of the system will be sanctioned.

Front 28

surplus value

Back 28

The Marxist view that the laboring classes produce wealth that far exceeds their wages and goes to the capitalist class as profits.