Criminological Theory Bringing Punishment Back In Conservative Criminology

Criminological Theory Bringing Punishment Back In: Conservative Criminology Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Key Theories and Theorists l Theory in Context: 1980 s-1990 s and the return to classical views of crime causation l Crime and Human Nature: Wilson and Herrnstein Crime and The Bell Curve: Herrnstein and Murray The Criminal Mind : Samenow Choosing to be Criminal: Crime Pays: Morgan Reynolds, Ron Clarke and Rational Choice Theory Crime and Moral Poverty: Bennett Broken Windows: Wilson and Kelling l l l Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Introduction l The 1980 s was a time when values of patriotism, religion, hard work, and responsibility for one’s own fate were trumpeted l There was a return to the classical school depiction of crime as the result of individual actors’ exercising rational choice or the positivistic portrayal of crime as the result of organic anomalies or psychological defects l There was a denial that crime had any root cause l l Crime is attributed to individual choice Solving the crime problem focused on greater restraints or controls l Harsh punishment was the linchpin of effective social control Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Introduction l Unlike earlier times, most criminologists were not swept up by the times and moved to set forth conservative theories l Rather, criminology as a discipline was oppositional to the conservative political movement and to the punitive crime policies it set forth l The resistance was due that there was good reason to reject its main policy agenda: “getting tough” on crime through mass incarceration Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s l The turmoil of the 1960 s was succeeded by a political backlash leading to the election of Richard Nixon to the presidency l Politically, the US adapted with a shift to even more conservative political rhetoric during the 1980 s that combined cultural nostalgia with spending policies that generated an enormous national debt Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Economic Decline of the United States l By the close of WWII, the U. S. ’s share of the world manufacturing was nearly 50% l With military commitments, the U. S. ’s position in world manufacturing began to decline l During the 1980 s, defense spending increased rapidly, as the national debt grew at a remarkable speed l The U. S. faced stiff international competition in many products Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Persistence of Inequality in the United States l During the 1980 s, it became clear that the roots of inequality ran deep in the United States l l The “Me Decade” l l However, pressure for social change ebbed Culture of narcissism took hold and people focused on their own problems The race issue and Bernard Goetz l The Black middle class, working class, and underclass Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Rhetoric of Stability l Tendency to see certain types of people as the problem or see our institutions of socialization failing to integrate potential troublemakers l By the end of the 1970 s, society as a whole seemed to be tired of social concerns and to turn its back on internal problems l l Lost faith in education, the family, and religion With the inauguration of Reagan, there was more condemnation of the permissive society as well as an embrace of the individual looking out for number one Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Embrace of Materialism l The America of the 1980 s often seemed like a case of life imitating art (mass media) l l TV and movies showed greed was not a bad thing The yuppies represented a symbol of the times l Self-centered materialists bent entirely on making it, with no social conscience getting in the way Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Reaffirmation of Traditional Sexual Preachments l By the early 1980 s, the openly hedonistic sexuality that many associated with the rise of the 1960 s’ counterculture was declared a thing of the past l The debate over sexual values reached the nation’s courts l l Bowers v. Hardwick l Roe v. Wade The emergence of AIDS was a growing threat Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The War on Drugs l Early in the Reagan administration there were new anti-drug campaigns and the federal government declared a new “war on drugs” l Drug testing in the workplace l Public was less concerned about the federal budget deficit and arms control than about drugs Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Department of Justice and the Supreme Court l During the 1980 s, there was an increasing reluctance to focus on possible social conditions underlying crime and a tendency to demand harsher treatment of ordinary street criminals l The competence of the Supreme Court was questioned l The leadership of the Department of Justice was as equally conservative Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Context: The United States of the 1980 s and Early 1990 s: The Legacy of the Conservative Political Agenda l Although the conservative agenda was questioned by progressives in the 1990 s, the conservative influence still holds strong l A steady rise in the prison population l Right-wing policy agenda (few protections for workers, cuts in social welfare programs, tax cuts to affluent, call to ban gay marriage, support for intelligent design) l The culture of control has become dominant Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Varieties of Conservative Theory l Five types of conservative theorizing: 1. Efforts were made to revitalize the early positivist school’s emphasis on ingrained individual differences 2. Some scholars have developed models that conceive of individuals as logical actors choosing crime when the benefits exceed the costs 3. Others have attempted to revitalize the psychological approach that offenders think differently rather than logically Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Varieties of Conservative Theory l Five types of conservative theorizing: 4. 5. l These theories deny economic inequality or concentrated disadvantaged population l l Others have attempted to link crime to the permissive culture or moral poverty Some claim that public disorganization or incivility leads to crime because police tolerate it Rather, crime is a choice by individuals The policy recommendation is to bring punishment back in to criminology (get tough) Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and Human Nature: Wilson and Herrnstein: Theory l l Based their theory on a biosocial explanation of behavior that focused attention primarily on constitutional factors l Such factors were treated as predisposing individuals to engage in criminal behavior l Wanted to explain why some individuals are more likely than others to commit crime Claimed that a distinctive body type exists that distinguishes criminals from non-criminals l Tend to be mesomorphic Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and Human Nature: Wilson and Herrnstein: Theory l “Bad families produce bad children” l Argued that individual differences rooted in biology are important to the extent that they influence subsequent social learning l l Used twin (DZ and MZ) and adoption studies to show this Behavior is affected by the consequences that it evokes or that people think that it will evoke and constitutional factors have the an impact on the ability to consider future and immediate rewards and punishments Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Wilson and Herrnstein: Assessing Crime and Human Nature l The conceptual/empirical criticisms focus on the authors’ lack of concern about the empirical applicability of their terms l Failed to offer any numerical or operational expression for concepts l The theory raised doubts about generality (failed to include white-collar crimes) and conceptual clarity of their theoretical argument l Their arguments were based on shaky evidence l And they were highly selective in what they reviewed Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Wilson and Herrnstein: Assessing Crime and Human Nature l Their work implied that certain biological predispositions found disproportionately among the poor and may be responsible for excessive criminal behavior l The solution to crime (harsher punishments by parents and government to teach morality) could not be backed with evidence, nor did they discuss the biases of the criminal justice system and how rehabilitation may be better than vindictiveness Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Wilson and Herrnstein: Assessing Crime and Human Nature l Did not consider that such sanctions, or how they are applied, also may teach that the “system” is racially and class biased l Did not consider that efforts to rehabilitate offenders may teach that we should value compassion and support, rather than vindictiveness, in society Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and The Bell Curve: Herrnstein and Murray l By the late 1980 s, many were accepting as facts the arguable assumptions that: 1. 2. 3. l Intelligence is a unitary faculty IQ scores are valid measures of this capacity The capacity is essentially inherited rather than environmentally developed Saw a restoration of elements of social Darwinism with suggestions that African Americans were both cognitively and morally inferior by nature Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and The Bell Curve: Herrnstein and Murray l The thesis that intelligence is the most single predictor of criminal behavior received its fullest statement in The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (1994) l People’s life chances have become determined by their cognitive resources l Produced hard empirical data to support their claim of the “cognitively disadvantaged” with the NLSY Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and The Bell Curve: Herrnstein and Murray Problems l Although research reveals that offenders generally have lower IQs, meta analyses report that intelligence is only a weak to moderate indicator of illegal activity l l Explains less than 1% of the variation in self-reported crimes Herrnstein and Murray not only exaggerated the causal importance of IQ, but also proposed solutions based on conservative ideology l Fight the crime problem by creating a society governed by “simple rules” and certain punishments Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

The Criminal Mind l The Criminal Personality: Crime is the result of pathological thought patterns constituting a criminal mind; psychopathic description l Inside the Criminal Mind: Criminals think differently and how a person behaves is determined largely by how he thinks l l Criminals are egotistic and externalize blame Samenow argued criminals are rational and choose to commit crime; no sociological factors are involved in crime causation Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

The Criminal Mind l Offenders self-select themselves into problematic life conditions l Samenow raised the important point that how offenders think is a worthy area for criminologists to investigate l However, the explanation of crime does not end with what is inside the minds of criminals Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Choosing to be Criminal: Crime Pays l Rational choice theory: People commit crime because it pays– because the benefits outweigh the costs l l Based on the concept of expected utility This popular explanation of crime has helped to justify numerous get tough policies that have increased the harshness of punishments given to offenders l Increase the costs of crime by getting tough on crime Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Choosing to be Criminal: Crime Pays: Morgan Reynolds l l According to Reynolds, the reason we have so much crime is that the benefits outweigh the costs l Need to expand imprisonment l Helped legitimate get tough policies Reynolds denied most sociological factors as root causes to crime l Supported his claim with empirical evidence showing the crime rate varies with the expected cost of offending Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Choosing to be Criminal: Crime Pays: Difficulty with Reynolds l Reynolds work is based on a simple bivariate analysis, and he did not control for other macrolevel variables l There is also the question of tougher policies and deterrence l Genuine dispute about whether increasing the certainty and severity of criminal punishment has a general deterrent effect l Little evidence supporting specific deterrence Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and Moral Poverty l Some of the most conservative theorists argue that crime is related to the permissive culture in U. S. society l Bennett et al. argued that moral poverty, the poverty of being without loving, capable, responsible, adults who teach right from wrong, is the key cause to crime l Moral poverty is a cultural problem, not structural Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and Moral Poverty l l l According to this perspective, the solution to crime is to give children the moral guidance they need to grow into healthy adults The culture of permissiveness should be replaced by a culture of virtue There is too much crime without punishment l l Victims of moral poverty are super-predators l l There is a no-fault revolving-door system The super-predator is beyond redemption Need to remember God because religion is the best and most reliable means to reinforce the good Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and Moral Poverty: Criticism of Moral Poverty l The problem is that theory is hard to measure and cannot be tested l Bennett et al. ’s dismissal of structural and economic conditions is on shaky grounds l Made a selective reading of the criminological evidence Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Crime and Moral Poverty: Criticism of Moral Poverty l Paints a bleak picture arguing the U. S. is experiencing a cultural breakdown l Although writing in a period of increasing juvenile violence, predicting that the violence will continue is risky because of regression to the mean l The coming of the super-predator was deemed a “catastrophic error” and the claim that growing up in moral poverty will produce a dangerous society has been falsified Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Broken Windows: The Tolerance of Public Disorganization l James Q. Wilson and George Kelling: Community disorganization is the failure to fix broken windows l The spiral of decline in a community begins when public signs of social disorganization are tolerated l More disorder occurs, more crime ensues, fear takes hold, respectable people move out l Informal social control weakens and the area is vulnerable to criminal invasion Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Broken Windows: The Tolerance of Public Disorganization l The recipe for reform depends on understanding the causal chain hypothesized by Wilson and Kelling l l Disorder caused by disreputable people breakdown in informal control invasion of predatory criminals high crime rates in neighborhoods It is necessary to attack the initial factor in the causal chain Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Broken Windows: The Tolerance of Public Disorganization l l The job to fix the broken windows was on the police l Zero-tolerance and quality-of-life policing l This formal control would create conditions to allow informal control to flourish once again New York City was a natural experiment where they controlled disorder and serious crime fell l However, other strategies were employed at the same time, economic prosperity and changes in the drug market occurred, crime had been declining before this implementation, and other cities without zero-tolerance also saw a decline Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Broken Windows: The Tolerance of Public Disorganization l New York debate was especially heated over “stop, question, and frisk” practices l l Stops were focused at places where crime was high (hot spots) and racially biased No rigorous evaluation studies on the effectiveness of these stops l If effective, spares crime; if not, increases sense of injustice and legal cynicism among African Americans and other minority citizens l Courts have decided that NYPD’s stop and frisk policy was indirect racial profiling and violates the Constitution Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Broken Windows: The Tolerance of Public Disorganization: Criticism of Broken Windows l The downside is that theory has an implicit disinterest in why communities have people who are homeless, panhandling for money, alcoholics, mentally ill, loitering on street corners, and willing to commit predatory crimes Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Consequences of Conservative Theory: Policy Implications l Because of the revitalization of individualistic theory, crime as a social problem has been transformed into an individual pathology l l Two policy agendas: 1. 2. l Society is good; offenders are bad Incapacitation Deterrence Conservatives emphasize the need to ensure that crime does not pay and that a proportion of criminal offenders are beyond reform Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Consequences of Conservative Theory: Policy Implications l Imprisonment l U. S. has been on an imprisonment binge l l 1 in 108 Americans are behind bars 2. 2. million behind bars Incarceration rate of 700+ per 100, 000 Disproportionately felt by minorities l Seen as a way to increase the costs of crime l Those beyond reform must be incapacitated l Little empirical support for the specific deterrent argument Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Consequences of Conservative Theory: Policy Implications l Doubling the prison population during the 1970 s achieved a small decrease (6%-9%) in robbery and burglary l Doubling today could reduce the crime rate 2040% but at a cost that exceeded $20 billion l Financial burdens of prisons led to a search for alternative methods of social control l Charging daily fees, house arrest, electronic monitoring Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Consequences of Conservative Theory: Policy Implications l Total expenditure for all correctional agencies surpasses $32. 7 billion l Corrections commercial complex: The costs of corrections cannot be explained by high crime and incarceration rates alone because corporations providing goods and services to corrections, as well as corrections officials and political interests, profit economically from get tough policies Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Consequences of Conservative Theory: Policy Implications l Beyond the imprisonment binge, public humiliation and public punishment reappeared l Faith-based community programs are a new reflection of compassionate conservatism l These programs are conservative because their focus on religion reflects the underlying belief that moral poverty, and not structurally induced poverty, is the root of crime l These programs are compassionate, however, because they portray offenders as having value and as capable of being reformed or “saved. ” Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications

Conclusion l The 1980 s and early 1990 s saw a return to ways of thinking about crime that the sources of lawlessness reside in individuals, not within the social fabric l These theories have considerable public appeal—if for no other reason than their simplicity—research has yet to demonstrate that such explanations have greater practical value in reducing crime l However, seeing a change in current policies l States faced with severe financial crisis no longer can afford the price tag of mass incarceration and rates are decreasing l The realization that America cannot imprison itself out of the crime problem l The call by Right on Crime for transparency, the conservation of taxpayer money, and oppose the growth of prisons in the criminal justice system l Now a willingness among political leaders to question the wisdom of continued “get tough” policies Lilly, Cullen, Ball, Criminological Theory Sixth Edition. © 2015 SAGE Publications