NCJ Number
60232
Journal
Deviance et societe Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: (DECEMBER 1977) Pages: 253-289
Date Published
1977
Length
37 pages
Annotation
THE INTERACTIONIST AND NEOMARXIST APPROACHES TO CRIMINOLOGY ARE COMPARED AND THE TWO APPROACHES EVALUATED CRITICALLY.
Abstract
WHILE INTERACTIONISTS VIEW LAWS AS COMPROMISES PRODUCED BY THE INTERACTION OF VARIOUS GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS, NEOMARXISTS CONSIDER CRIMINAL LAWS A CREATION OF THE STATE TO MAINTAIN THE TWO-CLASS CAPITALIST SYSTEM BY PROTECTING THE DOMINANT CLASS AND CONTROLLING THE WORKERS. ACCORDING TO INTERACTIONISTS, MEMBERS OF THE LOWER CLASS ARE AFFECTED MOST FREQUENTLY BY SOCIAL REACTIONS BECAUSE THEY COMMIT MORE ACTS COVERED BY CRIMINAL LAW AND ARE FAR REMOVED FROM THE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL CONTROL. IN THE EYES OF NEOMARXISTS, THE STATE MAINTAINS A FICTION OF THE NATURAL STATE AND NATURAL LAWS WHICH ARE THEN APPLIED SELECTIVELY TO BENEFIT THE DOMINANT CLASS. FOR INTERACTIONISTS CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IS THE RESULT OF SITUATIONAL PRESSURES FOR CULTURAL CONFLICT, WHILE NEOMARXISTS ATTRIBUTE DEVIANCE TO THE RESTRICTED ACCESS OF THE WORKER CLASS TO PROFITS WHICH THEY HAVE HELPED TO PRODUCE, COMBINED WITH COMPETITIVE PRESSURES TO ACQUIRE GOODS. IN THE INTERACTIONISTS VIEW, SECONDARY DEVIANCE IS A CONSEQUENCE OF PUNISHMENT OF PRIMARY DEVIANCE OCCURRING IN MARGINAL GROUPS; ACCORDING TO NEOMARXISTS, THE MODEL OF CRIMINAL LAW WHICH PROVIDES SANCTIONS FOR THE LOWER CLASSES BUT NOT FOR THE DOMINANT CLASS TENDS TO LEGITIMIZE AND STABILIZE THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM. INTERACTIONISM IS SEEN TO BE A METHOD LIMITED BY ITS TENDENCY TO STAY ON THE SURFACE OF SOCIAL RELATIONS, TO EMPHASIZE PROBLEMS OF THE AHISTORICAL INDIVIDUAL, AND TO IGNORE SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUES AND RESEARCHER BIAS. NEOMARXISTS, NOTABLY THE ENGLISH 'NEW CRIMINOLOGISTS', DIVERGE FROM MARXISM IN THEIR LACK OF ONTOLOGY, THEIR PROBLEMATIC TREATMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRIME, THEIR EMPHASIS ON ECONOMIC RATHER THAN INTEGRATED SOCIAL THEORY, AND THEIR CONCEPTION OF THE HUMAN BEING AS AN ACTIVE AGENT. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT INTERACTIONISM IS FAIRLY WELL UNDERSTOOD, BUT THAT NEOMARXISM REMAINS DIFFICULT TO EVALUATE BECAUSE MARXIST FEATURES CANNOT ALWAYS BE DIFFERENTIATED FROM OTHER RADICAL VIEWS. EXTENSIVE NOTES ARE SUPPLIED. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)