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Henry & Milovanovic (1986)
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These postmodernist sociologists adopt such a transgressive approach to crime. They suggest that crime should be reconceptualised as people using power to show disrespect for, and causing harm of some sort to, others, whether or not it is illegal, embracing all threats and risks to people pursuing increasingly diverse lifestyles and identities. They identify 2 forms of harm: 1. Harms of reduction: Power is used to cause a victim to experience some immediate loss or injury. 2. Harms of repression: Power is used to restrict future human development. This conception of harm brings a wider range of actions into the criminal net, which are either not illegal or not traditionally taken seriously or perceived as part of the current crime 'problem'. These include harms threatening human dignity and respect, such as sexual harassment, and hate crimes, in which people are attacked or abused because of some characteristics which mark them out as different, such as their ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or nationality. |
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Causes of Crime
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Postmodernists argue postmodern society is characterised by a fragmentation of the social structure, and a growing diversity of values: -The metanarratives of social class, work and family, which formed people's identity and gave them their social roles and values, and integrated them into society, have been replaced by uncertainty and individual choice of identity. -Individuals increasingly focus on themselves, often with little sense of obligation to others, or regard and respect for them, which reduces constraints over committing crime. -The individualism of identity in postmodern society means that the social causes of crime are undiscoverable. Each crime becomes a one-off event, expressing whatever identity an individual chooses - a lifestyle choice - and is motivated by an infinite number of individual causes, including intangible emotional reasons. -For example, low individual self-esteem may be overcome by criminal activities designed to earn respect from others by harming them, perhaps by humiliating, bullying or intimidating victims as in anti-social behaviour or bullying at school - or hate crimes directed at others simply because of such characteristics as ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality. |
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Stephen Lyng (1990, 2005)
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This postmodernist sociologist states the factors of late modernity combine in a toxic mix that generates crime among young people in the most deprived communities. In such communities, the life of young people is marked by greater risk, more uncertainty and less informal control over their behaviour than ever before.
With no other outlets for their anger and frustration at being excluded from the lifestyles they aspire to, they are more likely to involve themselves in various forms of what he called 'edgework':
-This involves all manner of thrill-seeking and risk-taking behaviour, not necessarily criminal or deviant but the pursuit of peril may include exploring the boundaries between legal and criminal behaviour.
-This can lead to crime and violence, anti-social behaviour, rioting and self-destructive confrontations with the law. -For poorer people, these crimes, such as shoplifting, joyriding, vandalism, fighting, being drunk, taking drugs and winding up or intimidating the public generates a 'buzz' of emotion from the risk-taking, excitement and thrills involved in these acts - this is their alternative to adradenaline-inducing activities like motor racing, paragliding, sky diving, etc. -The 'thrills and spills' of edgework as a motivation for crime applies especially to young working-class men who lack the means of winning peer group respect and status and the accolades others might achieve by non-criminal leisure-based activities. |
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Postmodernism
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This sociological perspective argues that society is changing so rapidly and constantly that it is marked by uncertainty and risk, and society is diverse and fragmented, with a huge variety of groups with different interests and lifestyles: -They view the category 'crime' as simply a social construction, based on a narrow legal definition, reflecting an outdated metanarrative of the law which does not reflect the diversity of postmodern society. -In postmodern society, people are increasingly freed from the constraints arising from social norms and social bonds to others, yet crime as presently defined is simply an expression of a particular view among those with power of how people should conduct themselves, and denies people's freedom, self-identity and difference. -It is necessary to develop a transgressive approach, which goes beyond the usual boundaries of defining crime as simply law-breaking, and to develop a conception of crime based on respect for people's chosen identities and lifestyles.
Evaluations: -It recognises that there are other dimensions to the causes of crime beyond the more structural theories which have dominated in the sociology of crime and deviance. -It offers explanations for non-utilitarian crime, with no material benefit, like hate crimes and anti-social behaviour. -It provides a fuller picture of the pattern of crime than that traditionally provided, as the transgressive conception of crime as 'harm' encompasses a range of behaviour that has been largely neglected in the law and in sociological theories. -It draws attention to the diversity of identities and lifestyle choices in postmodern societies, and to the idea that a centralised criminal justice system may not meet all needs and that the law, policing and criminal justice need to be flexible if they are to be effective in controlling crime. -It provides insights into the way contemporary developments like extensive surveillance - for example by CCTV - the growing use of private security, more localised policing, and control of entry to some private 'public' areas like shopping centres can reduce the harms, including fear, caused by crime and disorder. -It doesn't explain why most people don't use their power to harm others, and why particular individuals or groups find it necessary to actively engage in acts of harm as a means of asserting their identity. -Lea (1998) suggests traditional theories like marginality, relative deprivation and subculture still provide a useful starting point for explaining why certain groups have been denied access to less harm-causing sources of identity. -It fails to recognise that the consumer society, in which personal identity and fulfilment are tied up with the purchase of consumer goods, can lead to resentment among those who can't afford to participate. -It fails to recognise that many people still have strong conceptions of right and wrong behaviour, which underpin the law and much sociological theory of crime. -Lea points out that postmodernist theories are not much more than a re-discovery of labelling theory or radical criminology, which concluded long ago that crime was simply a social construction, and that power was a crucial element in that construction. -It doesn't recognise the importance or impact of social inequality. It pays little attention to the poorest social groups who can't afford to establish identities by consuming goods in the consumer society, and who are not significant consumers and customers. Such groups face increasing exclusion from public places like shopping centres, more surveillance and stricter control, for example through heavier and more repressive policing. -It doesn't recognise that decentralised and more informal arrangements for crime control to respond to more local identities - like the use of private security firms and localised policing - are likely to benefit the most well-organised, articulate and affluent middle-class groups, who have the power and resources to get their needs attended to. The needs of the poorest in society are likely to be neglected. -It doesn't really consider the implications of the growing use of customised private 'policing' and surveillance for people's civil liberties and human rights. Private security firms are not subject to the same controls as the police. -It fails to recognise that there may be a fairer, more equal distribution of justice for all through a centrally managed, publicly run and accountable CJS, so everyone has - at least in theory - an equal opportunity for protection from harm, and for the same rules to be applied equally to all. |
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Jack Katz (1988)
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This postmodernist sociologist explores the pleasures and seduction of crime for individuals, stating that the situation-specific emotional and sensual sensations play a major role in the committing of crimes: -It is based on the sensual and emotional state of the perpetrator in the various forms of crime, rather than the background variables. -Therefore he argues that people get drawn into crime because it is seductive - it is thrilling to them. |
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John Lea (1998)
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This sociologist suggests the postmodernist approach to crime reduction involves a need for the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to recognise the diversity of social groups and to respect their particular social identities and lifestyle choices, for example by the police becoming more sensitive to and tolerant of, for example, ethnic and gender identities, and the diversity of sexual relations: -He points out that the postmodernists' stress on the fragmentation of social structures and the growing choice and diversity of identities leads them to emphasise more informal localised arrangements for preventing and controlling harms caused by crime and disorder. -This involves the replacement of centrally managed CJS processes by, for example, localised customised community policing, the use of private security firms, and informal controls through the family, community, school and work. -The increasing use of private control agencies, like security firms, and the use of surveillance technology enables crime control and the reduction of harm to be customised to the demands and needs of particular communities and groups, rather than being reliant on the formal agencies of criminal justice like the police. -This is accompanied by growing control of entry to certain areas, such as shopping centres, streets and housing complexes in gated communities, for which entry is only permitted to particular social groups, such as shoppers or residents, rather than skateboarders or the homeless. |
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Levin & McDevitt (2008)
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These postmodernist sociologists suggest perpetrators of some hate crimes derive thrills, joys, excitement and pleasure and an escape from everyday routines by inflicting suffering on those they perceive to be different from themselves.
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Individualised Justice
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Postmodernists argue, in order to reduce offending and the infliction of harm, justice needs to be more individualised, reflecting the particular needs of the individual offender and the wider public interest: -This involves exploring whether alternatives other than prosecution are more suited to the needs of those causing harm, and to reducing the risks of them creating further harm in the future. -Any sentencing, rather than following national formulas that apply to all, should be customised to each individual, and recognise the particular circumstances - such as economic conditions, inadequate welfare support, homelessness or mental illness - which make individuals vulnerable to causing harm. |
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