Review of Critical Theory
or “Social Reaction” Theory
Labeling Theory (Early 1960s)
Conflict/Radical Theory (Late 1960s)
Feminist Theory (mid 1970s)
Labeling Theory
• Defining “deviance” (the content of law)
– Evidence mostly for “fringe crimes” (vagrancy,
drugs)
– But—WCC vs. “Street Crime”
• Application of labels (sanctions)
– Who gets sanctioned?
– Research on “extra-legal factors”
• The effects of labels/sanctions
– Effect of “arrest”
Revisions of Labeling Theory
• Move towards focus on “informal” labeling
– Parents, friends, teachers
• “Pygmalion effect” (Replication troublesome)
• Focus less on “self” and more on blocked
opportunities and bonds
– Evidence for this, but is this “labeling”???
• How we officially sanction may be key
– John Braithewaite
• Crime, Shame, and Reintegration
The effect of sanctions
• Deterrence: reduce crime
• Labeling: amplify crime
• Evidence? Arrest, sanctions seem to have
little effect at all
• Braithewaite: Maybe it depends on how
you sanction
Restorative Justice
• Roots:
– Left Realism, or “Peacemaking” criminology
– Braithewaite’s notion of “reintegraive”
shaming
• Policy
– Punishment ineffective, must repair harm
– Community responsibility
– Victim-Offender mediation, sentencing
circles…
Radical (Marxist) Theory
• The law reflects interests of those in power
– Some historical support (Opium, Vagrancy),
but what about murder, assault…?
– Best evidence = WCC vs. street crime
– Structural Marxism: Instrumental as too
rigid, some laws do benefit the poor…
• Application of the law will benefit those in
power
– Research on “extralegal factors”
Softer forms of Radical Theory
• Bonger:
– Capitalist societies exhibit “egoism”
– Pre-capitalist as “altruistic”
• Colvin and Pauly
– How workers are controlled dictates how they
control their children
• Harsh/inconsistent/coporal = working class
Gender and Crime
• Feminist movement of the 1970s
– Helped spur “victims’ rights” movement
– Helped change/create specific laws &
punihsments
• Domestic violence
• Rape (marital and date)
Gender and the CJS
• Chivalry hypothesis vs. Evil woman
hypothesis
– Gender weak, if any effects on processing
• Tentative evidence
– Serious crimes women treated more lenient
– Minor crimes women treated more harshly
• Especially girls, running away truancy…
The Generalizability Problem
• Patriarchal Society
– Most theorists males, most theories focus on
male behavior from male perspective
• So, can mainstream (male) theory
adequately account for female crime?
The “Gender Ratio” problem
• Males dominate criminal offending
– UCR, self report, victimization studies agree
• Why?
– Use traditional theory
• Females have less of the “stuff” causing crime
– Other reasons?