SOC 3490 Lecture Notes - Mens Rea, Aggressive Panhandling, House Arrest
10 Apr 2013
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Document Summary
Deals w social control (formal and informal) Goal of incapacitation: take away from society, or conditions w punishments if disobey. Goal of deterrence: penalties, criminal law as ideological control. Surveys show: young, poor, urban males are most often feared. Criminal law adds to the hegemony of the ruling: poor bashing class. Govt agencies use phrases and words to define: dominant groups power low classes the poor. The public is convinced that politicians/elites acts in our best interests. Ex: earliest laws dealt w the poor: instrumental marxism. Law is a tool of the ruling class. How does the law control marginalized ppl: criticisms of the ovl. Law is not objective and impartial: relationship between crime and social problems. Control dangerous groups : criminalization of the poor often deals w victimless crimes. Panhandling, drug use, minor offences: crime as a political concept. Beliefs in crime center who is criminal: street crime, and outh crime.
