SOCI 3810 Lecture 15: Criminology -- (15) Who is Winning the Losing War against Crime
2 May 2018
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The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Prison Chp. 4
Who is Winning the Losing War against Crime?
•Why is the criminal justice system failing?
-Pyrrhic Defeat Theory : “the failure of the criminal justice system yields such benefits to
those in positions of power that it amounts to success”
-by failing to reduce crime and by presenting a certain image of the “typical
criminal” and “typical crime,” the CJ system still succeeds in benefiting those
who have power
-“Typical Criminal” —> poor, young, black, male
-“Typical Crime” —> one-on-one harm
-failure = reducing crime, seeking justice
-success = benefitting the powerful by legitimizing existing social order
-Four propositions of the Theory
1. the CJ system is failing in avoidable ways to eliminate our high crime rates by
implementing policies that stand a change of reducing crime (chp. 1)
2. the CJ system fails to protect people form the most serious dangers by failing to treat
the dangerous acts of those who are well-offs as crimes (chp. 2)
3. the CJ system fails to protect people by targeting the poor and failing to enforce the
law against the well-off when they do commit acts defined as crimes (chp. 3)
4. the current CJ system persists because of historical inertia and is left uncorrected
because it produces ideological benefits (chp. 4)
•How did the current system develop and persist?
a. Historical Inertia Explanation —> the current system persists because it fails in a way
that does not give rise to effect demand for change for two reasons
1. the “failing” system provides benefits to those with power to make change
while imposing costs on those that do not have power
2. since the CJ system shapes the public’s conception of what is dangerous, it
creates the impression that the harm it is fighting are real threats to society
b. Ideology — what are the ideological benefits?
-Marx definition of ideology : “ideas that distort reality in a way that justify the
prevailing distribution of power and wealth, hides society’s injustices, and secures
uncritical allegiance to the existing social order”
-Role of media —> six networks control 90% of media
•The Implicit Ideology of the Criminal Justice System —>
-carries an Ideological message that serves to protect the wealthy and privileged :
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