Theoretical - Critical Race, Labelling/Subcultural Theories, Green Criminology PDF

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Summaries, explanations, definitions, historical context and case examples of the Critical Race Theory, Labelling/subcultural theories, and Green criminology under the module of 'Theoretical Criminology'....

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Theoretical Criminology Critical Race Theory According to critical race theory, is the criminal justice system fair? (Make notes) What does critical race theory say about the CJS in the UK? Race and Crime -

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‘Black Crime’ rates Subculture of Violence; Underclass; New Left Realism “needlessly assign criminal propensities to many noncriminal Blacks” (Covington, 1995: 560). – Critical Legal Studies and Radical Feminism = CRT Re-addressing historic wrongs State response? Nationalism Collective action & group empowerment People from game backgrounds are more likely to commit crime due to biological and environmental features. Underclass theory of Charles Murray. New Left Realism Criminology was looking at black crime, it began to racialism crime associating crime with black people CRT emerged in the 70’s in America and started out as an educational theory. CRT has activist groups The riots in 2011 and before weren’t based on race however ended being segregated oby race and was racialised. The riots occurred due to a fact individuals didn’t have the same access to good education, health care etc as upper classes Riots are politically based due to the marginalization individuals experience

Covington states: Crime is racialised when individual criminal behaviour is viewed as being indicative of the racial traits of the wider black and minority ethnic community, meaning that ‘whole categories of phenotypically similar individuals are rendered pre-criminal and morally suspect Gilroy argues that the view of black and minority ethnic groups as ‘innately criminal’ became ‘common sense’ in the 7’s and 80’s with the muggings moral panic, and is crucial to the development the ‘black problem’. Black and minority ethnic people are easily accepted as a reference point crimes, that often crimes are also blamed on completely fictitious black and minority characters. Muggings became a racialised crime which lead to over policing towards Black Caribbean youth and they were targeted and associated with the crime. They said Black Caribbean youth committed these crimes because they had no respect for the state and they claimed this was due to the absence of many Caribbean fathers and single parent hood Black people were reference points for certain types of crimes based on case studies

In terms of crime-prevention work, have seen the increased categorization, surveillance and control of some populations using the claim of ‘a measured response’ to increased security concerns, e.g. members of the Muslim population. Counter-terror measures have been criticized for their over-focus on all Muslims, and for their simplistic, generic and one-dimensional notions of Islam. This has presented the common-sensical view that extremism and radicalization is inherent within Muslim culture. It is a logic that presents all Muslims as extremists, rather than problematising the extremist mind-set of individuals themselves. ‘Brown Bodies’ = racialised processes = narratives surrounding dark skin colour as them being terrorists, especially Islam. There was a widening in the racial idea about Westernise societies, leaving a stigmatization in that ‘’brown bodies’’ are potential muslims which are thought to be potential terrorists Within the ‘war on terror’ context, this means that there is an easy acceptance in lay society of ‘the dangerous brown man’ – an adaptation of earlier racist mythologies around the ‘dangerous black man’ (Bhattacharyya, 2008: 96), which is used to both represent and sustain racialized anxieties. There’s a narrative surrounding nationalism which means that racism is now hidden within nationalism such as being White British Edward Seid – The power of orientialism = The image of the ‘’brown man’’ represented already existed anxieties. From this we created stop and search policies, however this power was abused against brown bodies, creating futher racism. Brown Bodies were placed in positions of surveillance Hence, a few legal measures have been introduced, which by capitalizing on popular anti-Muslim sentiment, have over-focused on Islamic terrorist: •

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Extending of the 2000 Terrorism Act, inc. the extension of stop and search powers under sections 44* and 45, allowing for practice to be undertaken without the need for reasonable suspicion. Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. The Terrorism Act 2006.

Narrative that Brown Bodies were worse than State Crime as they believed that Westernised terrosits were worse due to them strapping bombs on children whereas Northern Island terrorists didn’t do this in their bombings so deemed themselves as less criminal Critical Race Theory CRT came from a criminological approach that argues that problems in society lead to crime Events of ‘micro-aggression’ (and macro) Mid-1970s USA Critical legal studies & Radical feminism Influenced by some European philosophers, e.g. Antonio Gramsci and Jacques Derrida, and some US radical figures, e.g. Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, the Black

Panther Movement, and the Chicago movements Activists Key contributors: Derrick Bell; Alan Freeman; Kimberle Crenshaw; Angela Harris; and, Patricia Williams.

Common, everyday racism How we decide who a criminal is 1) Ordinariness – the idea that racism is difficult to cure or address. 2) Interest convergence (a.k.a. material determinism) – The idea that because racism advances the interests of white elites (materially) and working-class people (psychically), large segments of society have little incentive to eradicate it. 3) Social construction thesis – the idea that race and races are products of social thought and relations. Not objective, inherent or fixed matters, which correspond to a supposed idea of biological or genetic reality. 4) Differential racialisation and its consequences – this is how different BME groups are racialised at different times. Other Critical Approaches Black Feminist Theory Critical Race Feminist Theory Black Feminist Criminology “interconnected identities, interconnected social forces, and distinct circumstances to better theorize, conduct research, and inform policy regarding criminal behaviour and victimization among African Americans” and other BAME groups (Potter, 2006: 109). In examining more fully these areas, Black Feminist Criminology is able to more fully understand violence against BAME women, and the structural, cultural and familial influences within this experience (Potter, 2006: 106). Intersectionality and anti-essentialism – this is the idea that no person has a single, easily stated, unitary identity. Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberly Crenshaw (1989). Unique voice of colour Critical race theory advocates the idea of ‘a unique voice of colour’ which holds that because of their different histories and experiences with oppression, different black groups may be able to communicate to their white counterparts matters that the whites are unlikely to know. In other words, minority status brings with it presumed competence to speak about race and racism

Racial Murder Case Study Trayvon Martin was an unarmed 17-year-old black African American who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, an armed neighbourhood watch volunteer, in Sanford, Florida in February 2012. Interestingly, although held up as an example of post-race times, ex-President of USA, Barack Obama inadvertently added to the suggestion of a racially biased CJ system in his comment to reporters following the shooting: “When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids, and I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this.... If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.” (President Obama) The Martin case challenges the idea of a non-racially biased state. Lee (2013: 105) notes how race still matters hugely in society today, although it just matters in a different way from it did in the past. Lee (2013: 103) notes that it would have been highly unlikely that Zimmerman would have perceived Martin to be ‘a real suspicious guy’ or on drugs if Martin had been white. It is argued by supporters of CRT, that implicit racial bias exaggerated Zimmerman’s fear of Martin (as the black deviant subject) and motivated what seemed to him to be a reasonable decision to use deadly force (Lee, 2013: 101). Self-identifies as Hispanic and sometimes white Hispanic. He uses this to defend his case in that it wasn’t a racially discriminative murder. One racialised group can demonise/racialise other racialised group, indiciating that racism isn’t split between blackness and whiteness but instead identifies that theres a racial hierarchy where racialised groups can abuse their power of being above another group whilst being under the power of another. CRT in the discussion of 'race' in the MacPherson Report (1999) Victim’s rights (worthy victim or nonworthy victim) - Southall Black Sisters Individualised and collective forms of resistance to Euro-centric standards Splintered, i.e. Asian American jurisprudence; Latino-critical contingent; American Indian; queer-crit interest group; and, British Asian Movement. The Macpherson report highlights how radicalised practices surrounded by race can... lead to crime? They argue that is leads to hostile policing practices that lead to crime Today the concerns of CRT is a belief in the need to still address what they call Euro-centric standards in a variety of areas, both in matters relating to crime, justice and victim’s rights, but also more generally in terms of identity issues. The future: - New civil rights orthodoxy; - Marginalised and ignored; - Analysed, but rejected; - Analysed and partially incorporated.

Week 5: Labelling and Subcultural theories Lecturer said one exam question Is about labeling and one is on sub-cultural theory Subcultural Theory: Building on the work on Merton -

Influenced by Merton, though criticized his work: Deliquency is a collective, not individual response but is instead around groups such as lower class young people Merton failed to account for crime such as vandalism and joyriding that produces no monetary gain. He failed to acknowledge crimes committed by individuals Merton believed that crime lead to monetary (greed/gain)

Albert Cohen (1955) -

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Questioned where the criminal subculture came from: Why were deviant subcultures being discussed, Why were they located in slums and Why did the values persist across generations? Delinquent boys: The culture of the gang Gangs located in slums Culture is ‘nonconformist malicious and negativistic’ (Cohen, 1955:25) Appears irrational to conventional citizens Product of limits on success in conventional institutions for lower class youth Therefore denied status in respectable society The delinquent subculture provides criteria of status the youth can meet A Reaction Formation occurs: lower class youths reject middle class goals and replace values with oppositional values Lure of friendship, excitement or protection a delinquent gang can provide when faced with structural opposition to success. Ganghood provided a sense of relatability amongst its individuals as they would all have similar upbringings, experiences and opportunities Subcultures are formed mainly amongst working class boys where material deprivation and cultural deprivation leads to educational failure. Lower class includes no material gain and aren’t well supported through the education therefore turn to crime to try and gain the things they desire as they have no means (qualifications) to get them Argue that groups from lower class slum areas strived for gangs as the only way they could get the materials they were deprived from was to turn to crime i.e theft

Cloward and Ohlin (1960) -

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Opportunity Theory: . Social Structures generates pressures . Slum youth lack legitimate means of opportunity Status Frustration: . Caused by what youths want, such as respect, and what is available

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. Social mobility is hard for lower class people as they haven’t been given the same opportunities as middle classes to move up the social hierarchy. i.e Middle class students have a head start and more support in order achieve good grades at school to work up education and enter a highly paid job, which then supports their dreams and social goals. Whereas Lower classes aren’t given a head start in order to achieve in education and the support to go out and get a high paid job to support their social goals Argued affluent people have access to the structures for embezzlement but lower class youths have access to people who can teach them how to steal But why deviant subcultures in slum areas? . Lower class youths may experience more strain but more importantly: deviant subcultures can only emerge where there are enough youths to band together and support each other’s alienation from conventional values . Lower class have access to people who know how to steal to conduct criminal activity whereas upper classes may not have the same contacts and also wont have the same means and desire to do so as they have a bigger advantage

Cloward and Ohlin: 3 types of subculture 1. Criminal: emerge in areas where already an established pattern of organised crime. Children learn from other adults and are concerned with financial reward 2. Conflict: develops in areas where youths have little opportunity. Lack of cohesiveness and the response is often gang violence 3. Retreatist: lower class youths for subcultures around illegal drug use. Double failures – failed to gain status from mainstream and illegitimate means Subcultural Theories: What are they good for? -

They influenced the sociological and criminological study of youth crime Incredibly important for the individuals who have ignored by society for so long. They have finally got some recognition

Critique of the Neo-Chicacgoens -

Less detail offered about precise origins of criminal cultures Viewed spatial distribution of humans as natural, Darwinian inspired Deterministic: delinquency is determined by social structure and culture Denies human rationality and choice Denies ‘drift’ Lack of focus on power and class domination and the impact of such on economic inequality in urban areas Lack of focus on deviant females A lot of research on delinquency does not support C&O’s assertion of knowledge or skills transfer, instead gang members often have little social ability (Vold & Bernard, 1986) Victorian England involved some of the most violent people being females, whereas focus is still on young boys

Relentless Policing based on clothing -

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Mods and Rockers being labelled as violent, however a lot of mods and rockers weren’t violent and instead it was the media who created how violent they were, creating a stigma around dressing as M&R’s would do. They were policed and judged due to the media whereas in reality it was just the fashion of that group of young people Similar to society now-a-days with stigma surrounding young people wearing tracksuits, dark clothes, hoodies etc. This is relentlessly policed for example shops wont let in people wearing hoodied or wont let in groups of young people

Labelling theory -

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1960’s the birth of the labelling theory A time of political and cultural conflict, a time of collective challenge from a wide range of social groups. Including radical university students, critical criminologists/lawyers, hippies, LGBT groups There was a growing dissatisfaction with the fact that those in power had the authority to define what counted as ‘crime’, and ‘the criminal’, and to develop justice responses to it Contemporary notions of ‘crime’ and ‘deviance’ were turned on their head when the labelling theorists asked different questions about crime

Labelling theory asks... -

How do those with power in society label people with less power and their behaviours deviant? i.e Offenders become ex-offenders What effects do those labels have on the future lives and behaviours of the people being labelled? i.e very difficult for ex-offenders to go out and get jobs, therefore fall back into the lower class difficulties of having no monies, resulting in re-offending by stealing and committing other crimes

Edwin Lemert (1951) -

Lemert (1951) – Societal Reaction Not the original act of deviance but the reactions people have to it

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Primary Deviance: deviance before it is publicly labelled, no impact on the individual and does not influence status – typically goes undetected and is generally a temporary status

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Secondary Deviance: negative reaction to the deviant behaviour leads to secondary deviance, those who have been labelled deviant accept the new identity and the deviant behaviour continues. i.e being young a stealing a few sweets from a sweet shops

Howard Becker (1963) -

The Outsiders: Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. The deviant

is one to whom the label has successfully applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label’(Becker, 1963:9) The Wire -

Listen: The teaching assistant labels students with a variety of mental health conditions at 0:45 in, and then listen to how Namond challenged the class leadership whilst embracing his identity of troubled youth. (Video clip)

Fourfold Typology of Citizens Becker (1963) -

The members of society that are rule-abiding and free of labels are described as conforming citizens Those who are labelled without breaking a rule are termed the falsely accused Those citizens that exhibit rule breaking behaviour and are labelled deviant are referred to as pure deviants Those that breaks rules avoid labelling are called secret deviants

Becker (1963) The Outsiders -

Becker (1963) emphasised how reactions to deviance are different at different times Focused on the process by which individuals achieved on a marijuana smoker Spoiled Identity – Stigma attached to the deviant label changed individuals behaviour Moral Entrepreneurs – Individuals in positions of power and authority Becker defines deviance as: ‘not a quality of a bad person but the result of someone defining someone’s activity as bad’ Becker (1963) was crucial in shifting attention away from crime and toward deviance. The focus in criminology changed from a position that took for granted the nature and status of legal codes and their enforcement, to one that treated such things as socially constructed and therefore problematic.

Chicago Musicians and Deviant Lifestyles -

Participant observation study of the lives of Chicago dance musicians to illustrate the social life of a deviant subculture The social and occupational lives of Chicago dance musicians: Many of the dance musicians live a conventional family life during the day and change into their role as musician at night Deviant subcultures - Criminal deviance or social deviance? Non-criminal deviance and ‘outsider’ status The ‘outsider’ label vs. conventional ‘square’ society

What determines the application of the deviant label? -

Power: Groups which have the ability to make and enforces laws Ideology: the identification of the behaviour which is to be criminalized

Home Office (1988) -

Home Office green paper stated:

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‘Most young offenders grow out of crime as they become more mature and responsible. They need help and encouragement to become law abiding. Even a short period in custody is quite likely to confirm them as criminals… they see themselves labelled as criminals and behave accordingly’

ASBOS: A badge of Honour -

ASBOS are a civil order People worn the label attached by the powerful as being...