NCJ Number
47325
Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOLOGY Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (FEBRUARY 1978) Pages: 13-30
Date Published
1978
Length
12 pages
Annotation
TO EXAMINE THE EVOLUTION OF IDEOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS TOWARD CRIME, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH, U. S., AND CANADIAN SOCIOLOGY/CRIMINOLOGY JOURNAL ARTICLES FROM 1945 TO 1974 WAS UNDERTAKEN.
Abstract
HORTON'S (1966) MODEL OF ORDER AND CONFLICT THEORIES WAS MODIFIED TO INCORPORATE FIVE VARIABLES FOR ANALYSIS: TYPE OF PROBLEM, UNDERLYING VALUES, METHODOLOGY, VIEW OF DEVIANCE, AND RESPONSE TO DEVIANCE. A TOTAL STRATIFIED SAMPLING OF 121 ARTICLES WAS SUBJECTED TO CONTENT ANALYSIS. OVERALL TRENDS FROM 1945 TO 1974 HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY ORDER-ORIENTED. FROM THE HEIGHT OF THE ORDER IDEOLOGY IN THE MID-1950'S TO 1974 THERE HAS BEEN A RELATIVELY STEADY, THOUGH SOMEWHAT UNEVEN TREND TOWARD MORE CONFLICT-ORIENTED APPROACHES. IT IS PROBABLE THAT BOTH EXTERNAL SOCIOPOLITICAL FACTORS AND INTERNAL DISCIPLINARY CONCERNS PRODUCED THIS TREND. THE APPARENT IDEOLOGICAL HEGEMONY OF THE MID-1950'S INCREASINGLY CAME UNDER ATTACK IN THE 1960'S AS COMPETING IDEOLOGIES AROSE TO QUESTION DOMINANT NATION STATE POLICIES AND PRACTICES. WITHIN CRIMINOLOGY THERE HAS BEEN A QUESTIONING OF TRADITIONAL CRIMINOLOGICAL POSITIVISM AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW, CRITICAL, RADICAL., AND CONFLICT ORIENTATIONS. IN GENERAL, AMERICAN JOURNAL ARTICLES IN THE SAMPLE TENDED TO BE LESS ORDER-ORIENTED AND MORE SOCIOLOGICAL AND LIBERTARIAN-ORIENTED THAN ENGLISH OR CANADIAN JOURNALS, AGAIN PROBABLY AS A RESULT OF INTERNAL SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE. CANADIAN JOURNALS HAVE BEEN LESS ORDER-ORIENTED THAN ENGLISH JOURNALS POSSIBLY AS A RESULT OF CLOSE RELATIONS AND PROXIMITY TO THE UNITED STATES, AS WELL AS INCREASED SOCIETAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT WITHIN CANADA. WHILE THE ENGLISH JOURNALS HAVE SHOWN THE STRONGEST ORDER ORIENTATION AND A PRIMARILY PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC APPROACH TO DEVIANCE, A MORE RECENT TREND TOWARD A CONFLICT ORIENTATION CAN BE SEEN. ON THE BASIS OF THESE FINDINGS, IT WOULD BE APPEAR THAT THE CONFLICT ORIENTATION WILL GAIN WIDER ATTENTION AND INCREASED LEGITIMACY AMONG ACADEMIC CRIMINOLOGISTS. AS A RESULT OF RISING CRIME RATES, COSTS, AND PUBLIC CONCERN, THE CONFLICT ORIENTATION WILL PROBABLY MEET CONSIDERABLE RESISTANCE, AND EMPHASIS WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE TO BE ON ORDER AND INDIVIDUAL CHANGE RATHER THAN ON CONFLICT AND REVOLUTIONARY STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO CRIME. AN APPENDIX ELUCIDATES THE DIFFERENTIATING CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES OF THE ORDER AND THE CONFLICT ORIENTATIONS IN TERMS OF THE FIVE VARIABLES STUDIED. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE ALSO PROVIDED. (JAP)