CCJ3011 1 Chiricos What is Crime Criminology Socially constructed meaning Essay nothing in a behavior it s consequences that make it criminal o Not the behavior but only the meaning by social audiences that label it that makes it criminal Rodney King commanded by police to be obedient o Beating not given the label of assault by social audiences o Social audiences did not give behavior label of crime Not behavior that determines crime but the people No more force than necessary determined by society Prosecutor gives official meaning of crime Social Audiences Any other who can or does assign meaning to a behavior a person a situation activity etc with the Authority and power to do so o Formal audiences Exist for purpose of assigning meaning E g Jury at fault guilty or not Judge Police probable cause to become involved Congres Clergy Interpret meaning already written down However they can exist for other purposes administrative counseling Prosecutor Fashion magazines Critics food movie literature o Informal doesn t exist to give meaning No power authority but still does so E g Individuals such as ourselves gossiping etc Can be silent body language Descriptive meanings Don t express judgment just what it is Normative meanings crime involve implicit or explicit judgment Should or Should not Meanings vary by social audience Audiences vary bay circumstances experiences Descriptive vs Normative Meanings interests Descriptive CCJ3011 2 Chiricos o Identifies something Normative o Involve judgment Implicitly Explicitly warrant action Command mobilize potential action Intended to ensure predictability of action 1 2 Minimize threat a Physical b Material possessions c Social status identity d Symbolic values ideals 3 Promote solidarity Criminal Law as a Distinctive Normative Meaning Emile Durkheim criminal law is designed for solidarity 1 Specificity of terms 2 Uniformity of application o Applies to everyone in some way not in practice o For every 220 crimes that occur only 100 are reported 22 result in arrest 5 result in meaning of crime being given convicted 3 Politicality of Origin o In the name of the state Seeks punishment in own name Meanings articulated by state Guidelines state constitution environmental laws schools licenses delinquent enemy tax payer o For whom does the state speak Consensual will of its people Will of elites among its people o Religious Puritans Mass Bay Colongy Taliban o Party Political sovient Union China o Economic elites tax makers law o Military Consensus as the basis for the meaning of Crime Emile Durkheim criminal law expression of collective conscience o Widley shared strongly held values civil property family procedural admin Laws reflect interests of individuals sanctions w the above laws are different criminal laws CCJ3011 3 Chiricos Sanctions Are Restitutive make individual whole no extra pain restoration Criminal law repressive not restitutive Painful sanctions Seriousness of crimes rated by different people o Correlation between diverse groups is relatively consistent I E seriousness from high to low murder plane jacking armed robbery lower crimes Application of meaning in concrete has discrepancies among different people o Consensus in abstract everyone agrees but when applied to real life ther is o Crime is state articulated meaning enforcement o Common law crime constructed by royal trained judges early England o Senate Not exact representation of population Skewed towards older rich Limitations of the consensus view disagreement Who speaks for the state white males Who speaks for the state Chicken v Egg Issue o Consensus first articulated later Consensus can be product of articulated meanings by elites Elite meaning can be amplified media to manufactured consensus Herbert Marcuse One dimensional thought Top Down o Meaning filters down from elites to the masses o Hegemonic consciousness Ideas filter down from elite and feel like consensus o Hierarchy of credibility Seems natural that ideas articulated from power has more value credibility He s more powerful must be right Index of serious crime known to police murder rape burglary larceny aggravated assault auto theft robbery o crime rate o Formulated in 1930 s depression unemployment Gramsci Mills CCJ3011 4 Chiricos o 92 of crimes involve property o 62 larceny taking no assault o 1 violent crime B T jan aug of 1987 400 increase media discourse of crack cocaine 1986 1989 arrest for cocaine increased 65 incarceration increased 214 1993 420 increase in media coverage of violent crime juvenile vilence o During this time violence had decreased slightly o Manufactured consensus media manufactured meaning Limitations of the Consensus View cont Durkheim collective conscience o As society moves from simple rural agrarian types to complex urban industrial society the collective conscience should diminish o If basis of meaning of crime has become more complex criminal law should decrease but has been increasing o Durkheim Dilemma collective conscience diminishing why has crime law increased The common meaning is no longer there more diversified Pattern of harms excluded from meaning of crime exclusion doesn t reflect consensus bases o Disproportionately committed by powerful people
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