Deck 13: Radical and Critical Criminology

Question 1

Pursuing a Marxist-influenced analysis of crime and society, Chambliss and Seidman (1971) argued that the popular view that the law represents general social values and operates in the best interests of society is mistaken, indeed naïve.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

What is the definition of Quinney's 'peacemaking criminology'?

Answer 2

Though continuing from the baseline assumption that conflict is a root cause of crime, peacemaking criminology seeks solutions that do not involve the further infliction of violence and pain and, rather, stresses conflict resolution, mediation and conciliation. Thus, the traditional approach of the criminal justice system, according to Quinney, is to impose a form of 'negative peace' through the use of threats and sanctions. Peacemaking criminology involves a search for means of establishing 'positive peace':

Question 3

What is the difference between radical and conflict theories?

Answer 3

Although radical and conflict theories are often discussed together, there are a number of differences between them in practice. Generally speaking, it is held that conflict theory assumes human nature to be amoral whereas radical theorists hold a more benign view in which human nature is more positive, but the circumstances in which individuals find themselves shape behaviour in less acceptable ways. Conflict theories tend to view society as being divided into numerous groups whose interests differ, whereas the bulk of radical theorists, drawing at least in part on Marxism, tend rather to see the division as being primarily between two groups - differentiated by their relationship to property.

Question 4

What is the connection between radical and critical criminologies?

Question 5

What did Chambliss argue was the reason for the introduction of the vagrancy laws in England in 1349?

A)the Black death had decimated the labour force
B)too many people were moving to London
C)there were lots of beggars
D)the low availability of cheap labour was becoming a problem for the landowners

Question 6

The American radical criminology Richard Quinney argued that 'criminal definitions describe behaviours that conflict with the interests of segments of society that have the power to shape public policy'. What does this mean?

A)Criminal law is an instrument of the state and ruling class to maintain and perpetuate the existing social and economic order.
B)everyone has the right to vote for policies that are advantageous to them
C)Crime control in capitalist society is accomplished through a variety of institutions and agencies established and administered by a governmental elite, representing ruling class interests, for the purpose of establishing domestic order.
D)The contradictions of advanced capitalism - the disjunction between existence and essence - require that the subordinate classes remain oppressed by whatever means necessary, especially through the coercion and violence of the legal system.

Question 7

In the 1970s Chambliss, from a radicalised position, argued that:

A)crime diverts the lower classes' attention from the exploitation they experience.
B)crime directs attention toward other members of the lower classes rather than toward the capitalist class or economic system
C)crime is a reality which exists only as it is created by those in the society whose interests are served by its presence
D)middle and upper classes are much more law abiding

Question 8

The following are examples where criminal activities may be carried out by groups:

A)industrial or labour conflicts
B)political protest
C)theft from shops

Question 9

Who were the three people most associated with a body of radical criminology in the US in the late 1960s?

A)William Chambliss
B)Richard Nixon
C)Richard Quinney
D)Austin Turk

Question 10

Radical and critical criminologies draw for at least some part on:

A)restorative justice
B)Marx
C)Durhkeim
D)control theories

Question 11

In the 1930s Edwin Sutherland noted that major corporations were involved in activities that were, in principle, 'criminal' but avoided being defined as such because:

A)they were not really causing any harm
B)most of the activities were benefitting the economy
C)of the economic and political muscle the organisations enjoyed
D)the government was corrupt

Question 12

What did Bonger see as the cause of the selfish pursuit of pleasure producing a form of 'egoism' which increased criminal conduct?

A)poor parenting
B)capitalism
C)faulty reasoning
D)greed

Question 13

Marx argued that social divisions and the distribution of power in society lay within:

A)the aristocracy
B)the church
C)the government
D)the relations of production

Question 14

Radical criminology developed as a reaction in part to:

A)historical analyses
B)functionalist sociology concentrating on the necessity of policing and punishment
C)a lack of political activity or protest
D)a rising crime rate

Question 15

In 1973 the 'new criminology' was a critique of existing criminological theories.

Question 16

Positivism was regarded as the main enemy of radical criminology in the late 1970s.

Question 17

According to Jock Young (1988: 159) 'British criminology in the late 1980s was at a cross-roads'.

Question 18

How did Taylor et al's 'The New Criminology' view the relationship between capitalism and crime?