The Consensus Perspective Essay -- Crime

Criminologists have long tried to fight crime and they have developed many theories along the way as tools to help them understand criminals. In the process of doing so, criminologist have realized that in order to really understand why criminals are criminals, they had to first understand the interrelationship between the law and society. A clear and thorough understanding of how they relatively connect with criminal behavior is necessary. Therefore, they then created three analytical perspectives which would help them tie the dots between social order and law, the consensus, the pluralist and the conflict perspectives. Each provides a significantly different view of society as relative to the law. However, while they all aim to the same exact purpose which is to help us understand crimes from a social viewpoint, the consensus perspective is more effective as it presents a more radical and logical view of how society interacts with the law. For instance, the consensus view focuses m ore on norms, unification, and equality. At the same time, it questions individuals ‘self-control as causes of crime. As Michalowski described it, most members of a society believe in the existence of core values (Schmalleger, 2012). The consensus view is about nothing but values, the different that are commonly known as right and wrong. The teaching of those values start at a very early stage of one’s life and we tend to adapt to them quite effectively. Most importantly, they become part of our lives to a point where we do not very much need a piece of paper to demonstrate it, we just grow to know that, for example, the killing of another person is wrong and respect for others is right. Those are the things that we know and believe and what makes it ... ...at it really is. It presents society as a united force respecting and following the norms as to every member can be satisfied. It is equal and common as to what is what and what to expect. It also projects that there probably would not be laws if it were not for the norms, as we, as a society agree on what is unacceptable and considered a violation. Finally, the consensus perspective sees violators of the norms as weak people with very low self-control. Bibliography Agnew, R. (2011). Toward a Unified Criminology: Integrating Assumptions about Crime, People and Society (New Perspectives in Crime, Deviance, and Law Series). New York: NYU Press. Luckenbill, E. H. (1992). Principles of Criminology (The Reynolds Series in Sociology). New York: Altamira Press. Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. The Consensus Perspective Essay -- Crime Criminologists have long tried to fight crime and they have developed many theories along the way as tools to help them understand criminals. In the process of doing so, criminologist have realized that in order to really understand why criminals are criminals, they had to first understand the interrelationship between the law and society. A clear and thorough understanding of how they relatively connect with criminal behavior is necessary. Therefore, they then created three analytical perspectives which would help them tie the dots between social order and law, the consensus, the pluralist and the conflict perspectives. Each provides a significantly different view of society as relative to the law. However, while they all aim to the same exact purpose which is to help us understand crimes from a social viewpoint, the consensus perspective is more effective as it presents a more radical and logical view of how society interacts with the law. For instance, the consensus view focuses m ore on norms, unification, and equality. At the same time, it questions individuals ‘self-control as causes of crime. As Michalowski described it, most members of a society believe in the existence of core values (Schmalleger, 2012). The consensus view is about nothing but values, the different that are commonly known as right and wrong. The teaching of those values start at a very early stage of one’s life and we tend to adapt to them quite effectively. Most importantly, they become part of our lives to a point where we do not very much need a piece of paper to demonstrate it, we just grow to know that, for example, the killing of another person is wrong and respect for others is right. Those are the things that we know and believe and what makes it ... ...at it really is. It presents society as a united force respecting and following the norms as to every member can be satisfied. It is equal and common as to what is what and what to expect. It also projects that there probably would not be laws if it were not for the norms, as we, as a society agree on what is unacceptable and considered a violation. Finally, the consensus perspective sees violators of the norms as weak people with very low self-control. Bibliography Agnew, R. (2011). Toward a Unified Criminology: Integrating Assumptions about Crime, People and Society (New Perspectives in Crime, Deviance, and Law Series). New York: NYU Press. Luckenbill, E. H. (1992). Principles of Criminology (The Reynolds Series in Sociology). New York: Altamira Press. Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.