Critical Approaches to Crime and Deviance CRIM 302 (3)

Critique of traditional criminological theory and of the conventional approaches to the problems of crime and punishment. Critique of classical etiological criminology. Examination of the relationships between crime, class and power. The criminal as a scapegoat for the system. The stereotype of the criminal. Street crime vs. corporation and state crime. Criticism of treatment ideology and techniques. Comparison of conservative and radical criminal policy. The controversy about the possibility of a value-free social science and about the political commitment of the social scientist. Prerequisite: CRIM 101.