NCJ Number
49983
Journal
Contemporary Crises Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (JULY 1978) Pages: 245-263
Date Published
1978
Length
19 pages
Annotation
THIS ESSAY TRACES THE EVOLUTION OF MAJOR PATTERNS IN CONTEMPORARY CRIMINOLOGY AND DEVIANCE, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES IN THE 1960'S AND 1970'S.
Abstract
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIMINOLOGY ARE REVIEWED, STARTING WITH 1738 AND GOING THROUGH THE START OF POSITIVISM IN CRIMINOLOGY IN THE 1800'S. POSITIVISM IN THE 1800'S WAS DOMINATED BY THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, THE CENTRAL TENET OF POSITIVISM BEING THAT PERSONS WERE COMPELLED TO COMMIT CRIMES BY BIOLOGICALLY INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. IN THE EARLY 1900'S, SOCIAL POSITIVISM EMERGED AND BECAME WELL KNOWN FOR EMPHASIZING SUCH THINGS AS PEER PRESSURE AND NEIGHBORHOOD DISORGANIZATION AS CAUSES OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. CORRECTIONS AND LIBERAL POSITIVISTIC CRIMINOLOGY EVOLVED IN THE 1950'S AND 1960'S, AND SOCIAL POSITIVISM WAS THE DOMINATING FORCE IN BOTH AREAS. LABELING THEORY, AN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT IN THE 1960'S, WAS SIMILAR IN IDEOLOGY TO LIBERAL SOCIAL POSITIVISM, VIEWING ACTORS AS CONSTRAINED. A PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT WITH THE LABELING PERSPECTIVE WAS THE SUBFIELD OF SOCIOLOGY KNOWN AS DEVIANCE. EMPHASIZING AUDIENCE REACTION, THE LABELING PERSPECTIVE WAS A MAJOR FORCE IN SOCIOLOGICAL EFFORTS TO STUDY THE ORIGIN AND OPERATION OF CRIMINAL LAW. CONFLICT THEORY WAS AN OUTGROWTH OF LABELING THEORY, SINCE LABELING CONCENTRATED ON SOCIETAL REACTION AND DEVIANCE WITHIN THE POLITICAL MILIEU. BOTH LABELING AND POSITIVISM ASSUMED THAT PEOPLE WERE CONSTRAINED IN SOME WAY, ALTHOUGH THE BELIEF IN THE HUMAN CAPACITY FOR VOLUNTARY ACTION DISTINGUISHED DETERRENCE FROM SOCIAL POSITIVISM, AS DID THE FACT THAT DETERRENCE RESEARCH IMPLIED NO LIBERAL REFORMS. DURING MOST OF THE 1960'S AND 1970'S, CRIMINOLOGY HAS BEEN AFFECTED PRIMARILY BY THE CONCEPT OF POLITICAL LIBERALISM; I.E., A SYMPATHETIC VIEW OF CRIMINALS AND HANDLING THE PROBLEM OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR WITHIN THE EXISTING SOCIAL STRUCTURE. LITTLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN BY LIBERAL CRIMINOLOGISTS TO CLASS CONFLICT AND TO VIOLATIONS OF THE AFFLUENT. THE TWO MOST RAPIDLY GROWING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF CRIMINOLOGY DURING THE TWO DECADES HAVE BEEN DETERRENCE AND MARXIST ORIENTATIONS, AND BOTH REFLECT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONCERNS OF THE 1970'S. EXTENSIVE NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)