CRIM 2653 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Critical Criminology, Devaluation, Neoliberalism
Document Summary
Populism and popular impulses followed over properly formulated evidence. Devaluation of criminologists in the age of neo-liberalism. Baloney detection kit: politics in a social context, crime policies, conventions, etc. are done. Politicians act as if they are tough on crime so they can get elected into office. Positivism involves the idea of a unified theory; there is supposedly one theory that explains everything. The goal is to create one general explanation to explain how the world works. Every theory sacrifices something in order to be coherent. Theories tend to split over the unit of analysis. Criminal law tends to focus on the individual and their lives. Big issues: systemic racism, generalized poverty, social marginalization, etc. are ignored. Strain theory focuses on people"s ability to fulfill culturally valued life goals, their ability to achieve those goals are significant as to whether they will resort to criminal activity.
