Conflict, Labeling Theory
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Both conflict theory and labeling theory play into society's efforts to respond to criminal behavior in terms of prevention and punishment by serving as an explanation for the cause of crime. Each of these theories also overlaps criminology, sociology and psychology in its explanation of the cause of crime. Historically, sociological theories of crime that view crime as the result of social forces "have dominated American criminology since the 1920s" (Brown, Esbensen, & Geis, 2001, p. 283). Despite this similarity, conflict theory and labeling theory are vastly different. The former maintains that a small number of wealthy and powerful individuals control a disproportionate share of society's resources and control the institutions that reinforce their own power and wealth. This causes marginalized groups that are denied access to such resources to turn to crime seeing no route of conventional access to upward mobility. In contrast, labeling theory maintains that most efforts to control crime actually increase crime. This is because individuals who are arrested, prosecuted, and punished are labeled as criminals. As one sociologist explains, "Other then view and treat these people as criminals, and this increases the likelihood of subsequent crime" for a number of reasons like employers being unwilling to hire a "criminal" (Crime, 2009, p. 1). This analysis will compare and contrast these two theories of crime and criminal activity. A
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d mobility in terms of academic or economic opportunities. Many turn to gang membership or the drug trade as a means of getting the resources they view the status quo as denying them access to. While such individuals "reject inequality" that arises from class stratification and resort to crime, the status quo "accepts inequality" as the natural differences in individual merit (Ezell et al., 2005, p. 198). In a sense, those who benefit from the system despite its inequalities are those who control its institutions that reinforce those very inequalities.
Labeling theory takes a different approach to crime than conflict theory. Instead of focusing on the inequalities that arise from a specific amount of resources being available to society, labeling theory focuses on the self-fulfilling prophecy that arises for those who are termed criminals. Once a person is arrested, prosecuted, and punished they are labeled a "criminal." When this occurs, there is a significant likelihood that the individual will subsequently commit more crimes when released into society. This is for three primary reasons: 1) Labeled a criminal the individual will face trouble finding "legitimate" employment; 2) Conventional people may shun an ind
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Approximate Word count = 1303
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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