SELECTIVITY OF CRIME CONTROL AND DISTORTED COMMUNICATION - A CRITIQUE OF CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY AND AN ALTERNATIVE CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE

• NCJ Number: 61047
• Author(s): Y S HAN
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 184 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

THE MAIN THEMES OF MARXIST CRIMINOLOGY ARE CRITIQUED, AND AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE INTERPRETATION OF CRIME AND CRIME CONTROL IS PRESENTED.

Abstract

MARXIST CRIMINOLOGY (CRITICAL, MATERIALIST, OR RADICAL MODE OF CRIMINOLOGY) HAS DIRECTED ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE ETIOLOGY OF CRIME BASED IN THE INDIVIDUAL OFFENDER TO THE SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL STRUCTURES THAT FRAME AND EXERCISE SOCIAL CONTROL. MARXIST CRIMINOLOGISTS ATTEMPT TO SHOW THAT CRIME CONTROL IS ORGANIZED BY THE INTERESTS OF THE RULING CLASS, NAMELY THOSE WHO CONTROL AND GAIN EXCESSIVE PROFIT FROM THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION. THIS SIMPLISTIC VIEW OF CAPITALIST SOCIETY FAILS TO ANALYZE EMPIRICALLY THE WAYS IN WHICH CURRENT, HIGHLY-EVOLVED CAPITALIST SOCIETIES EXERT SOCIAL CONTROL THROUGH GENERALLY ACCEPTED PATTERNS OF SELECTIVITY AND EXCLUSIVITY IN CRIME CONTROL. THEORIES OF DISTORTED COMMUNICATION, AS DEVELOPED BY JURGEN HABERMAS AND CLAUS OFFE, PROVIDE A PERCEPTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL CONTROL IN MODERN CAPITALIST SOCIETIES. DISTORTED COMMUNICATION CAN BE DEFINED AS 'ALL FORMS OF RESTRICTED AND PREJUDICED COMMUNICATION THAT BY THEIR NATURE INHIBIT A FULL DISCUSSION OF PROBLEMS, ISSUES, AND IDEAS THAT HAVE PUBLIC RELEVANCE.' DISTORTED COMMUNICATION IN CAPITALIST CULTURES HAS THREE LEVELS OF FORMATION AND FUNCTIONING: (1) IDEOLOGICAL REPRODUCTION--THE PERPETUATION OF CERTAIN IDEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATINS THAT FORM DOMINANT PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS; (2) SOCIAL EXCLUSION--THE ELIMINATION FROM THE MAINSTREAM OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION THE PERSPECTIVES OF CERTAIN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC GROUPS; AND (3) LINGUISTIC DEFORMATION--THE UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF LINGUISTIC CAPACITY TO ARTICULATE INTERESTS IN VARIOUS SOCIAL GROUPS DUE TO DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES OF SOCIALIZATION. THESE LEVELS OF DISTORTED COMMUNICATION AFFECT THE SELECTION AND EXCLUSION OF SOCIAL CONTROL ON THE STRATEGIC (ENFORCEMENT OF CERTAIN TYPES OF CRIMES WHILE NEGLECTING OTHERS), SUBSTANTIVE (STATE INTERVENTION TO CONTROL ECONOMIC CRISIS AND SOCIAL ANTAGONISM), AND STRUCTURAL (THE SELECTIVITY AND EXCLUSIVITY OF BOURGEOIS LEGALISM) LEVELS OF CRIME CONTROL. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NOTES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)