08 27 2015 CCJ 3011 Criminology What is crime there s nothing inherently bad nothing intrinsically evil nothing itself that is sinful immoral deviant nothing criminal What makes something criminal deviant immoral sinful evil bad is not the behavior not the harm that the behavior does it s the meaning that social audiences effectively construct for that behavior and effectively assign to that behavior Behavior of social audiences others who can or do effectively construct meaning Crime is one of many meanings that social audiences construct The meaning associated with a certain behavior or harm is what constitutes it harmful criminal etc think about crack tobacco plastic bag example Its not the behavior its not the harm it s the meaning that social audiences construct behind it that constitutes the action as criminal or harmful Crime is a socially constructed meaning Abstract construction of meaning law first example How social audiences act in the concrete Rodney King example Ford s 2 2 2 plan had to rush to complete in 2 years During testing the car had gas tank behind rear axle When they tested rear end collisions there was a tendency for the tank to rupture and spew gas and explode Took that to the CEO and he calculated how many would be injured statistically and what it would cost to pay damages then engineers calculated cost of fixing the tank per unit cost The difference was 17 per unit more to fix it They left it the way it was Ford Pinto had many accidents explosions deaths etc And Ford paid damages One time an Indiana prosecutor brought a charge of manslaughter against Ford and lost Didn t get the meaning of crime Social Audiences Almost all behavior is predicated on organized by and given direction by meaning Meaning is given by social audiences Meanings are not inherent in things they are constructed Crime is just one meaning Social audiences construct meaning Meaning organizes behavior Arrest prosecution trial is behavior actions organized by the meaning of crime Formal social audiences exist for the purpose of constructing meaning because of that they tend to have power and authority They assign and give meaning Judges juries Congress by constructing laws legislatures any structure that has the authority to create rules that purview those following them Social media used to create meaning Media tends to create the meaning of what s important A trial is a contest over meaning Informal social audiences don t exist for the purpose of assigning meaning but do assign meaning Meanings come from the circumstances and experiences that people live in example being a driver form Boston versus a driver from Tallahassee We informally construct meaning everyday all of the time about everything we encounter Body language in general assigns meaning it doesn t have to be spoken Two primary kinds of meanings descriptive meanings dictionary just what it is and normative meanings implies a judgment A descriptive meaning doesn t imply a judgment example of abortion Tuesday Sept 1 Recap what makes something evil deviant criminal etc is not the behavior or harm associated with it it s the meaning created by social audiences with power to do so Its all about meaning All meanings mobilize action and behavior at every conceivable level Behavior is organized by meaning Descriptive vs Normative Descriptive indicates what something is Normative indicates the feeling judgment of it behind it Normative mobilizes action either implicitly implies a directed course of action or explicitly definitely directs course of action Evaluative judgments are implicit Prescriptive or proscriptive meaning explicitly indicates action to be taken Prescriptive what you should do Proscriptive what you should not do ten commandments All normative meanings potentially accomplish several things Consequences of normative meanings Insure predictability of action Minimize threat o Physical threat social threat and symbolic threat Story of Chiricos family hippie brother and father Violations of prescriptive normative meanings is what generates threat Promote solidarity o sameness of meaning bat mitzvah example Crime as a normative proscriptive meaning is different from other normative proscriptive meanings in several ways 3 Specificity extraordinarily specific in its terms think of laws created Uniformity of application law applies to everybody equally in a particular political jurisdiction theoretically o For every 220 victim reported crimes in surveys there are 100 that become crimes known to the police CKP 25 result in an arrest and approx 5 result in the meaning of criminal being assigned to an individual convictions Politicality the meaning of crime is articulated by and for the state Crime is a violation of the state s particular interests Other state level meanings that apply to people o Tax payers students citizens in general minimum wage if one is insane a child in need of supervision Written assignment Posted on Bb Due October 1 for extra credit Thursday Sept 3 For whom does the state speak when articulating meaning for crime law Speaks for the general will of the given population consensus view this is the dominant view Depending on the state speaks for the elites For example places where the elites who control the state are religious elites Muslim states where religious elites look to articulate Shariah Law o Party elites example the Soviet Union A particular party who the state spoke for and who spoke for the state o Military elites most prominent example would be Egypt today Military dictatorship o Where there are elites the question of consensus gets a little muddled o Economic elites tax laws not written in the eyes of the consensus think of the income tax Consensus view as the presumed basis for the meaning of crime goes back to Emile Durkheim Collective conscience for Durkheim the most strongly held and widely shared views of a people His argument is that the criminal law is a direct expression of the collective conscience the criminal conscience exists in order to objectify the collective conscience The CC gives rise to Criminal Law He argues that other types of law reflect individual interests Restitutive law restores the interests of the individuals Sanctions involved with criminal law are repressive they impose a pain or penalty in the name of the state the whole He argues the reason why these laws have a repressive sanction is because the collective conscience is being violated not the individual
View Full Document
Unlocking...