postmodernism theory of crime

• explaining crime from the postmodernist perspective

  they reject structural causes of crime

  society is diverse and crime reflects individual free will and choices

  crime might be a way in which people construct their identities

  laws on crime are narrow and they aren't applicable to modern society
• Levin and McDevitt - hate crime

  they suggest that perpetrators of hate crimes enjoy the thrill and escapism from normal routines by inflicting suffering on those beneath them
• Katz

  1998- crime is seductive
• Lyng

  studies crime as 'edgework' - thrill and excitement
• tackling crime - Henry and Milanovic


  1996 - crime should be replaced with the idea of social harm

  a transgressive approach that says crime should fall into two categories = harms of reduction and harms of repression
• harms of reduction - Henry and Milanovic

  power is used to cause a victim to experience immediate loss or injury (theft or murder)
• harms of repression - Henry and Milanovic

  power is used to restrict future human development

  brings a wider range of crimes in forms of hate crimes and sexual harassment
• preventing crime - postmodernism

  more likely to be caught = less likely to commit

  crime prevention needs to be localised and tailored to the area
• Foucault - preventing crime

  argued thar surveillance was likely to become an effective means for regulating behaviour and reducing crime
• Bauman and Lyon - liquid surveillance

  liquid surveillance - that there are now so many forms of surveillance - phones, passports etc that people are willing to buy and use.

  this allows them to be tracked by the state and other agencies
• evaluation of postmodernist explanations

  doesn't explain why most don't use their power to harm others and doesn't explain why some do

  Lea and Young would argue that marginalisation is still a good explanation