Crime and persistence of drugs in American Society Essay

Crime and persistence of drugs in American Society - Essay Example Criminologists supporting the conflict tradition argue that the inevitable process of capitalism is the main cause of crime. That is to say, disputes emerge between those who embrace the society in a pluralistic view and those who do not. Pluralists believe that groups in the society exercise power with an objective of furthering their own influence and power within that society. These criminologists, or conservative conflict theorists, argue that difference in economic status, and culture or the struggle in ideology, morality, status, race, ethnicity, or religion are the sources of crime. These theorists believe that such groups that gain allegiance to the mainstream culture obtain control of the necessary resources that allow them to criminalize those conflicting individuals who do not observe the same cultural values and moral code. According to Siegel, therefore, crime has its root in the instrumental or symbolic conflicts that occur at different sites of a fragmented society. Cr itical theories concerning crime base their arguments on group difference on the larger social environment; some highlight class difference, others gender difference, and others societal difference. In this regard therefore, there are different critical arguments and theories on crime, but all focus on group difference in power. The theories include Marxist theory, institution anomie theory, and feminism theory. The capitalist class (those who have means of production like businesses and factories) advocate for laws that criminalize and prohibit low-class street crimes, but merely restrict or prohibit some harmful actions resulting from their factories and business. ... The theories include Marxist theory, institution anomie theory, and feminism theory. According to Marxist theory, the capitalist class (those who have means of production like businesses and factories) advocate for laws that criminalize and prohibit low-class street crimes, but merely restrict or prohibit some harmful actions resulting from their factories and business (Siegel 2011). These individuals use power to their advantage, and their main aim is to make profits. The theory on institutional anomie borrows from social learning and control theories to argue that the high rates of crime in the US result from the emphasis on the â€Å"American Dream†. People are encouraged to achieve success in monetary terms, but with no emphasis on the legitimate means of obtaining such success. Lastly, the feminist theories base its argument on crime because of gender difference in power. They try to explain why men engage in most forms of crime in comparison to women. Structural argument s on crime try to use a structural methodology in developing theoretical perspectives on delinquency and crime. Theorists supporting this approach focus on the study of social structures with emphasis of power relations between groups or individuals. The common approach in the study of these social structures is the concern of vertical, hierarchical relations among the members of the society (Siegel, 2011). The structural approach to criminology embraces the study of power relations as the centre of criminology research. In essence, the approach studies both power relations to criminal behavior and other people’s reactions to criminal behavior. The main theory in structural criminology arguments is the power-control theory. According to the