Definition of Conflict in Criminal Justice
Conflict theory is an important part of both the social sciences and the humanities. Its basic premise is that the law and the legal system are based on power. According to this axiom, those who have the money and influence to write law will do so in their own interest.
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History
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Karl Marx developed the first systematic theory of conflict. Societies, he said, are organized around class relations, and any illusion of class harmony is created by propaganda. Conflict theory is not solely the domain of radical left politics, but it is closely associated with them. Put simply, Marx held that criminal law, and law in general, existed because the wealthy, the owners of capital, needed the state to control the working class.
Features
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Class, race and general social status lie at the root of conflict theory relative to criminal law. Society is not harmonious but held together by force. This force is the purpose of the state and, more specifically, of criminal law. Criminal law exists to protect those with social influence from those who have none.
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Types
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Conflict theory is the opposite of consensus theory in criminal justice. Consensus holds that societies are generally harmonious because people, organized in societies, see common needs and desire justice. But conflict theory rejects the idea that justice is real in that the privileged classes define what is "just." "Criminality," according to consensus theory, means violence and fraud against society as a whole. Conflict theory views "criminality" as whatever goes against the interests of the wealthy.
Function
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Criminal law, under the conflict approach, serves a specific purpose of protecting those with money or influence. Conflict theory itself serves to alert researchers on the situational and relative nature of crime. Crime is "situational" and "relative" in that it depends on those whose interest it serves. As their interests change, so does the nature of "criminality." Under conflict theory, crime is never absolute and only in general refers to those without power. Law and the state as a whole are never neutral but always serve some interest.
Significance
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Historically, the significance of conflict theory is that it has tried to show society as dysfunctional. Society is artificially held together by the typical weapons of the powerful: propaganda, courts, threats of prison. These methods have been used to convince those without power what it is to be a criminal. Society, according to conflict theory, is artificial in that it is a means by which the rich use criminal law and the state to destroy opposition.
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References
- Photo Credit Posta Romana. Marx, Lenin. Timbre postal oblitéré. image by Blue Moon from Fotolia.com
