SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONFLICT AND CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGIES

• NCJ Number: 41928
• Author(s): R L KELLER
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 377 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA - DISSERTATION

Annotation

THE DISSERTATION EXAMINES THE IDEA THAT THE CONFLICT AND CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGIES ARE VARIANTS OF THE SAME RADICAL PARADIGM.

Abstract

USING A TECHNIQUE REFERRED TO AS QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS, THE TWO CRIMINOLOGIES AS REPRESENTED IN SIX THEORETICAL WORKS ARE EXAMINED WITHIN A SOCIOLOGY OF CRIMINOLOGY ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK WHICH CENTERS ON THREE BASIC ISSUES. IT IS SHOWN THAT WHILE CONFLICT CRIMINOLOGISTS IDENTIFY SOCIAL CONFLICT AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AS MAJOR CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS, CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGISTS DEVELOP A POLITICAL ECONOMIC EXPLANATION OF CRIME IN WHICH CAPITALISM IS IDENTIFIED AS THE MAIN CRIMINOGENIC FACTOR. THIS CRUCIAL THEORETICAL DIFFERENCE IS REFLECTED IN THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE TWO CRIMINOLOGIES IN SUCH A WAY THAT CONFLICT CRIMINOLOGY CAN BE DESCRIBED AS BASICALLY LIBERAL AND REFORMIST WHILE CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY CAN BE DESCRIBED AS BASICALLY RADICAL AND REVOLUTIONARY. TWO SETS OF CRITERIA ARE USED TO MEASURE THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE TWO CRIMINOLOGIES SATISFY THE REQUIREMENTS OF RADICAL THEORY. THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY FULLY SATISFIES THE REQUIREMENTS OF RADICAL THEORY AS ENUMERATED IN THE TWO SETS OF RADICALNESS CRITERIA, WHILE CONFLICT CRIMINOLOGY LACKS SOME OF THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF RADICAL THEORY. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT FAR FROM REPRESENTING A PARADIGMATIC THREAT TO THE DOMINANT PARADIGM IN CRIMINOLOGY, CONFLICT CRIMINOLOGY IS ACTUALLY SUBSUMED BY IT. IN CONTRAST, IT IS SHOWN THAT CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY DOES CONTAIN THE THEORETICAL ELEMENTS AND IDEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF A RADICAL PARADIGMATIC CHALLENGE, AND THAT IT THEREFORE CAN BE CONSIDERED A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THE DOMINANT PARADIGM IN CRIMINOLOGY TODAY. THE CONCLUSION IS THAT THERE IS LITTLE EMPIRICAL SUPPORT FOR THE IDEA THAT THE CONFLICT AND CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGIES ARE VARIANT OF THE SAME RADICAL PARADIGM. THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT NOT ONLY ARE THERE CRUCIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO CRIMINOLOGIES, BUT THAT THEY ACTUALLY BELONG TO TWO DIFFERENT PARADIGMS, ONE THAT IS NON-RADICAL, TO WHICH CONFLICT CRIMINOLOGY BELONGS, AND ONE THAT IS RADICAL, TO WHICH CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY BEONGS.(AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)...TWH