¶ … law and society are intertwined, and how social conflict can actually aid in creating criminology. I also have a much deeper understanding of the many different theories on criminology and society, and how each of them has merit, at least in one form or another.
Just about all of this information was new to me because sociology is not my strongest interest, and yet the information here was informative and interesting. I did not know there were so many different perspective theories pertaining to the legal and criminology community, and I did not know the ideas of each one. I knew that Marxist philosophy and criminology had many commonalities, but I did not know the extent of them until I read this chapter. I also did not know about "radical" criminology.
It was surprising to me that so many criminologists have studied these social causes of crime, and made such very different conclusions from their studies. Certainly, there is not just one cause or situation that creates the criminal mind, but these different social causes really make the reader stop and think about the vast social influences on crime and criminology.
The information in this chapter affected how I look at crime and criminology, especially the many different social causes of crime. It makes sense that social classes have a great influence on crime and who commits crime, and it makes sense that more people are studying these social causes in an effort to regulate crime. It also makes sense that while Marx...
Marx' theories proved not to work in Russia, and so, it seems they would be modified to be more applicable today.
I think I will look at the study of crime quite differently now, because I understand there are many ways to look at crime, and many ways to look at what causes it. I understand that theories are just that, but that criminology is much more fascinating than I originally thought. It is much more than "cops and robbers," judges and lawyers, it is an intricate study of what makes people tick, and how to control society to control crime.
This chapter opened my eyes to the vast number of criminology theories that are out there and how so many of them have merit. You could combine them in myriad ways to come up with a complex theory on what causes crime in society, and how our capitalistic society tends to breed certain types of crime. It opened my eyes to just how much class has to do with most crimes, and how little most people really understand these complex theories and causes.
Chapter Eleven Reflection
This chapter reading seemed more of the "nuts and bolts" of what many law enforcement people are concerned with, and what about most citizens think about when they think about crime and criminology. This information was quite interesting, and again opened new doors into aspects of crime that many people might not even think…
