Radical Conflict Criminology

Karl Marx: Radical Conflict Theory and Marxism in criminology Radical Criminology began to appear on the criminological scene in the 1960s as criminologist began to question traditional criminology bearing in mind the political, social, and economic events occurring during this time. Tensions grew at an all-time high over racial issues and the war in Vietnam. Organized oppositions began to riot and form other forms of violence. The government, along with researchers and academics, sought ways to respond to and control these anomalies. This resulted in a rapid expansion of the criminal justice system.

Radical criminology may be referred to as Marxist, conflict, or critical criminology. The ideological perspectives defined in the early years

This examination provides insight to the ways state power is used to define challenges to authority. For example, behaviors that threaten the social, economic and political order are labeled terrorist was well as criminal. For instance, the Black Liberation Army a splinter group made up of the more radical members of the Black Panther Party, the BLA sought to overthrow the US government in the name of racial separatism and Marxist ideals. Which according to the Justice Department the group was suspected of involvement in over 60 incidents of violence between 1970 and 1980. Different responses to criminal acts are facilitated when the stat-controlled of terrorist can be applied. In the same way, the focus on repeat offenders, long prison terms, on street crimes rather than corporate or white-collar crimes. As a result, the powerful can exert social control on the common people while excluding their own act and the criminal acts of those who serve powerful

Marx was born in Trier, Germany (or also known as Empire of Prussia) to a middle-class family. He studied law and Hegelian philosophy. Marx later transferred to the University of Berlin there he met his mentor and professor G.W.F. Hegel. Marx was inspired by Hegel’s philosophy and later joined a radical group named the Young Hegelians. Marx became more politically zealous, he was secretly engaged to Jenny von Westphalen, a highly sought-after woman from a respected family in Trier who was four years his senior. Between his increasing radicalism and a being secretly engaged to a woman from a higher class; his father did not approve, and expressed his concerns. He did not settle after receiving his doctorate from the University of Jena his radical politics prevented his from procuring a teaching position. Without work Marx started working for a local liberal newspaper in Cologne called Rheinische Zeitung. Unfortunately, after one year the government ordered the newspaper’s suppression. Again, Marx continued moving forward only this time he moved to the political heart of Europe Paris, France. Here is where Marx met his longtime friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels. The result of Marx and Engels’s first collaboration was published in 1845 as The Holy Family. He was expelled from France while writing for another radical newspaper, Vorwarts. In Brussels, Marx was introduced to