What’s Left? The prospects for social democratic criminology

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Reiner
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Ideal Type ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Law ◽  
Crime And Criminal Justice

This paper analyses the fate of social democratic sensibility in thinking about crime and criminal justice that prevailed for most of the 20th century, until a profound rupture in culture, political economy, crime and criminal justice. The paper proposes an ideal-type of social democratic criminology, and contrasts it with the law-and-order perspective that displaced it after the 1970s. The sources and consequences of this seismic shift are analysed and evaluated. Finally, following the fracturing of the last forty years’ neoliberal hegemony in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, it considers the prospects of a revival of the social democratic perspective in criminological thinking.

5. Political economy, crime, and criminal justice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Reiner
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminological Theory ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Family Patterns ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Political Economy ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Crime And Criminal Justice

Trends and patterns in crime and criminal justice are shaped by variations in the overall structure of different political economies. The macro trends in political economy are mediated by varying institutional and cultural factors and, in turn, these feed down into more local neighbourhood and family patterns and ultimately the psychology of different individuals. Whilst there is an element of choice in the commission of crime, this operates in conditions that are influenced by micro, meso, and macro structures. The chapter analyses the history of political economy as a perspective in criminological theory, as well as how crime and criminal justice vary over time and space between different political economies, in particular social democratic and neoliberal ones.

Social crisis and social policy in Queensland: patterns of control

1989 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian O'Connor ◽  
Mary Callahan
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Services ◽  
State Government ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Economic Transition ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
The Social ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
And Control

This article seeks to locate within its political economy the forms and patterns of care and control that developed in Queensland. It is argued that the State government sought to manage the social tensions that resulted from economic transition of the 70s and 80s through coercive methods and most notably through the criminal justice system. This argument is developed through an analysis of Queensland's use of the legal system, its pattern of social services and its law and order expenditures in comparison to other States. The changing patterns in Queensland's summary courts are consistent with the drift to coercion which identified in the analysis of the State's response to its social and economic difficulties.

Criminal justice in the middlebrow imagination: The punitive dimensions of Making a Murderer

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel LaChance ◽  
Paul Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Crime And Punishment

Popular documentary representations of crime and punishment have traditionally tended to fall into two camps: programs that are critical of law enforcement agencies and those that are sympathetic to them. In this article, we show how programs that present themselves as critical of legal authorities can nonetheless reinforce the “law and order punitivism” that underlay the ratcheting up of harsh punishment in the late 20th century. In a case study of the popular documentary miniseries Making a Murderer, we show how this can happen when texts fetishize the question of a criminal defendant’s innocence, adopt a “good versus evil” approach to players in the criminal justice system, and perpetuate a procedural rather than substantive vision of justice. Arguments are supported by a close reading of Making a Murderer and illustrated by a line of discussion it inspired in an internet forum.

scholarly journals Germany After the Social Democratic Century: The Political Economy of Imbalance

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney A. Rothstein ◽  
Tobias Schulze-Cleven
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social

Thatcherism and Crime: The Beast That Never Roared?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Farrall ◽  
Will Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Crime Rate ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
The Social

This chapter explores the Thatcherite legacy for crime and the criminal justice system. We argue that, despite much of Thatcher’s rhetoric on ‘law and order’, most criminal justice activity during her period in office was essentially liberal (that is, progressive) in nature. Nevertheless, the social and economic policies pursued in the early to mid-1980s were, we argue, associated with rises in the crime rate, which in turn shifted public attitudes towards crime and the treatment of offenders. Coupled with the Labour party’s shift rightwards from the early 1990s and Blair’s focus on crime as a topic Labour ‘owned’ meant that both the Conservative and Labour parties were engaged in a crime ‘arms race’ towards policies which were in tune with the Thatcherite instinct on crime.

The Swedish Social Democrats and the ‘new Swedish model’: playing a losing game

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claes Belfrage ◽  
Mikko Kuisma
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Swedish Model ◽  
The Social

This chapter focuses on the Swedish Social Democrats. After the 2006 Swedish elections, the Social Democratic Party (SAP), the ‘natural party of government’ during the construction and heyday of the famous ‘Swedish model’ in the second half of the 20th century, entered opposition for eight long years. Initially at least, some might have taken this to represent just a regular short-term slump in electoral politics. However, it could also be seen as the beginning of a long decline. The party is playing a losing game and the only way in which it can reverse its fortunes is by calling the very foundations of the ‘new Swedish model’, now ironically perhaps associated with the Conservative administration of Fredrik Reinfeldt, into question.

Normalization and the Limits of the Law: The Case of the Czech Jazz Section

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-318
Author(s):  
Peter Bugge
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Social Discourse ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Impact

The Jazz Section was one of the most remarkable cultural institutions in “normalized” Czechoslovakia. Established in 1971 as part of the official Musicians' Union, the Jazz Section used its legal status to arrange jazz and rock concerts and to publish a variety of books without the permission or consent of the Communist authorities. From the late 1970s, the regime strove hard to close the Section; however, it survived until 1984. Only in 1986 did the regime find a way to prosecute its leading activists. This article investigates why persecution proved so troublesome. It focuses on the impact of the Jazz Section's legalistic strategy, and on the role of legal concerns in regime behavior. It argues that references to “law and order” had a central legitimizing function in the social discourse of the Husák regime, and that the resulting need to translate policies of repression into legal measures inhibited the authorities in their assertion of power and created an ambiguous window of opportunity for independent social activism.

scholarly journals Penal Mediation to Dissolve Discord among Peasants in Guilan (Iran)

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Fatemeh Seyed Saadat ◽  
Saeed Hakimiha
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Dissolution Process ◽  
Statistical Population ◽  
The Social ◽  
Spss Software ◽  
The Law ◽  
Guilan Province

Present research was accomplished to survey penal mediation role in dissolving discord among peasants in Guilan province of Iran. Restorative justice is to make all parties participate in discord dissolution process and to decriminalize it with tools like mediation. It is based on a principle in which no culprit is pursued and also it is planning to relief victim. The law of criminal procedure in Article 82, projects “mediation” subject in crime deterrent grades 6, 7, 8. These crimes usually are pardonable or at least private complainer pardon is effective in mitigation. This issue causes reduction of criminal files and also criminal costs. It facilitates the social revive of the criminal. Modern criminal justice believes that penal mediation as one of settlement methods should follow special regulations which guarantee criminal and victim rights. This research is presented in four sections. This research is practical and the method is descriptive - analytical. Statistical population is consisting of 160 persons from many different villages in Guilan province. In order to collect data, questionnaire was administered and data analysis was performed using SPSS software. In forth section of this research, considering related questions, we were after to prove hypotheses. Results showed that criminal mediation can be settled by meetings performed by elders of villages in Guilan province and it prevents fights and claim .As a new look of criminal justice, it can be used as an appropriate instrument for judiciary.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document