SOC293H1 Lecture Notes - Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences, Hate Crime, Squeegee Man
Lecture 4: Legal Consciousness
Major theories and the sociology of law
Compare Marx to Durkheim
Marx – class conflict under capitalism also reflected in law
-Instrumental Marxism – bourgeoisie wins because their interest are protected
What laws are made of (squeegee kids – middle class commuters and vagrancy laws – factory owners)
- Law creates MORE inequality
- Capital wins, even when you think otherwise (look at what laws are followed or avoided)
-Structural Marxism – inequality internal to the system
Repeat players in the system do better than one shotters
Durkheim – instead of class division, focus on what keeps society together
- Punishment
Expression of conscience collective
Often violent and passionate
Reinforces the conscience collective and “society”
- Changes in punishment
- How far do those changes go?
- Still have some very violent punishments (capital punishments)
- Is fine sufficient? Community service?
- Re-emergence of shame punishments – social meaning and onlookers
Shaming punishments
Stigmatizing publicity communicates the offender’s status to a wider audience
Literal stigmatization is the stamping of an offender with a mark or symbol that invites ridicule
Self debasement penalties involve ceremonies or rituals that publicly disgrace the offender
Contrition penalties come in two forms
1) Requires offenders to publicize their own convictions, describing their crimes in first person terms and
apologizing for them. These combine stigmatizing publicity with an element of self debasement
2) Apology ritual – car thief ordered to apologize to church congregation
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Marx class conflict under capitalism also reflected in law. Instrumental marxism bourgeoisie wins because their interest are protected. What laws are made of (squeegee kids middle class commuters and vagrancy laws factory owners) Capital wins, even when you think otherwise (look at what laws are followed or avoided) Structural marxism inequality internal to the system. Repeat players in the system do better than one shotters. Durkheim instead of class division, focus on what keeps society together. Still have some very violent punishments (capital punishments) Re-emergence of shame punishments social meaning and onlookers. Stigmatizing publicity communicates the offender"s status to a wider audience. Literal stigmatization is the stamping of an offender with a mark or symbol that invites ridicule. Self debasement penalties involve ceremonies or rituals that publicly disgrace the offender. Contrition penalties come in two forms: requires offenders to publicize their own convictions, describing their crimes in first person terms and apologizing for them.
