THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC REVISIONISM,

CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY AND RICHARD QUINNEY

POLITICAL ECONOMY

In the last 30 years, a generation of criminal justice educators have seen a pronounced swing of the political pendulum from the Left to the political Right (1). Perhaps, in this last thirty years, it was the end of the second wave industrial societies that also was the last hurrah of what was thought of as the" Left." It generally meant command socialism often called "Communism" in the USA and democratic socialism which here in the States meant "socialism"(2). Criminal justice strategies also reflected the ideology of the time. Richard Quinney was one of the most famous Leftist criminologist in the last 30 years (3). When the Third Wave "knowledge" society began to emerge, Americans and other first world democracy discovered a newly recognized fact about the future of society. In so many words, CAPITAL CAN MOVE ALMOST ANYWHERE AND LABOR CAN NOT. Billions of dollars can now rove and roam around the world to it's most profitable place. It is more profitable to move investments to Third World countries, to use robotics, to job segment, and hire temps. Thus many have lost good paying jobs or will lose stable well paying jobs, and this phenomena has been called the "SILENT DEPRESSION."(4). Classic capitalism is now so pervasive and so quick that it can easily undermine families, societies and their governments. In American terms, Communism, Socialism, and Liberalism can no longer survive because they are less adaptable to change. What is also happening is that world wide, families are in disarray (5) and there is a global crime wave due to massive economic and social change.(6) What is left of the Left? Not much. And most first world countries like the USA have moved to the Right (7). Alas, so has criminal justice policy (8). Through a series of conscious critical examinations of itself, the Left has looked within and declared it's own death(9). In so many words, the promise of worker security and all it's elaborations are being killed or have been downsized. And so is the rhetoric of the Left (10).

Further, on the Right, Neo-cons maintain that increase in crime has not come from the insecurities of the market place. Rather, security has fostered vice and crime (11). However, in common parlance the Right faces an even tougher dilemma than perhaps the Left. Although Leftist now suffer in defeat and lick their wounds about past mistakes. Rightist have to come to grips with living according to their ideals. It is not enough to preach virtue to the masses, rather it is to provide a society where risk is returned to the everyday lives of the majority of the population. They believe that without social spending, a Calvinist revisionism sets in and the masses save, become thrifty, frugal, and virtuous. Those that do not conform to this behavior, die off. Although it is debatable, it is the promise of the Right. Good things like financial stability and success occur because there are good people. Others should fall from the grace of the market place. Good people who fall on hard times should welcome private short term charity (12). For lack of a better word, the Left are now Social Democratic Revisionists. Any party on the center Left political spectrum is doing what conservative or Tory parties might have done years ago. Simply, however the SDR's are saying, we can still find capitalism with a human face. The scenario goes something like this:

1) Government will be small and efficient, serving all the population of a designated area.

2) The public sector will more likely grow at the level of the municipality, province, county, or state level(13).

3) Although there has been a struggle by the Left, the Right has won the day in the sense that health care will be reduced so that patients will be encouraged not to use the system unless absolutely necessary. However, the Left will struggle to see that all have some coverage. (14)

4) All that can be privatized will be. SDR's will fight to protect zoning laws and land use planning, charter public schools, civil liberties, public supported pensions, unemployment insurance, public highways, mass transit/public parks and some modest form of health care(15).

5) In a number of situations, vouchers will be given so that residents will use them to their maximum utility(16).

6) The working poor up to the upper middle class will be honored with some form of stability, if they work efficiently and do not reproduce children to any great extent. The work force is promised a low but steady wage (17).

7) Unfortunately, the Left has come to grips with revulsion and with resignation that the underclass who can not become knowledge workers, will be monitored, raised in orphanages, and later perhaps imprisoned as a work force. Numerous incentives and disincentives will be used so the underclass reduce their reproduction. This will not be spearheaded by the Left but it will not be seriously opposed. Perhaps, Andrew Hacker has the most unsettling account of how conservatives and liberals will or have formed a "hidden agenda" relative to this issue. (18).

8) The Left will struggle so that workers will be represented by a social charter, worker councils, alliances or unions. Extraordinary rise in pay will not be honored. (19).

9) Small regulatory bodies will monitor non-national global information companies(20).

10) The Left will fight to see that crime victims of all classes need and deserve protection and crime control will reflect local needs. Law enforcement will be come pro-active, community based, and act as a mediator between local citizens. Early intervention will be encouraged even it means the removal of the child from it's home (21). On the other hand if the Right is true to it's ideology, nearly all the above is privatized, localized, deregulated, and left to the forces of the market place.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY

By the mid 60's, numerous groups outside of power, fought to gain entrance in the American corporate and political system. The Vietnam war and other events radicalized students, minorities, women, and other groups. Fighting against established power, various "minorities" were blurred together with career offenders whose ideology was nebulous. Their street knowledge was quick to seize upon the Marxian metaphor or model as part of the oppressed minority. Marx wrote only vaguely about crime and was more likely not see them not as victims, but as the criminal class of lumpenproletariate. Marxist criminology overextended itself as did some Welfare Liberal in proclaiming that street crime was somehow and in some way "quasi revolutionary." (22).

As Left Realists would note years later, low income victims would come to the realization that Left criminologist might outline some of the major inequities they face from classic corporate capitalism and yet sympathize however indirectly with the predator. Thus the poor found themselves victimized twice: once by classic capitalism and the other by crime.(23)

Ultimately, most would recognize that many victims are victimizers themselves. Further, victimizers are more likely to have been abused themselves and do the same to others as they reach early adolescents(24).

The public became increasingly skeptical when release programs and rehabilitation strategies failed to reduce recidivism. Increase in crime occurred for many reasons this last 30 years, but for the average lay person non-conservative criminal justice strategies and legal maneuvering by defense attorneys began to chasten even the most ardent Liberal lay person and the general public. (25).

By the late 70's. Rightist criminologists turned the public's eye to genetic discussions, deterrence, and retribution. Further, Rightist would champion target hardening, surveillance protection, and the ability to own weaponry to survive against predators(26).

Today, more alleged victimizers perish from civilians shooting them than law enforcement intervention(27).

Further, fatherless homes became an extremely important issue. It will not be resolved here, except to note that it appears that lawful children come from homes with strong single mothers, and nearby male relatives or by two parents.. However, if one mixes poverty, urbanism, and neglect of single parents, regardless of race, the outcome seems to be or appears to be unlawful outcomes for males before they "age out."(28)

In the meantime, funding to provide early intervention of a Liberal variety became suspect because Liberal policy became suspect.(29)

Although most studies indicate that prisons do not deter, they do provide for the public, a sense of safety and retribution. Capital punishment and long term imprisonment is now fairly common. One of the most popular jobs and economic development projects is now "prisonomics"(30).

Conservative criminologist can assure the public that something will be done to punish offenders. This was something that Liberals could not speak freely relative to this issue. Reminding the public that they are harmed and cheated more by white crime or white collar crime did not appear to provide solace to the general public. Perhaps the last tough Liberal on crime was Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Democrat, New York, deceased June 6, 1968. As this is being written, "nothing works" translates into prisons, housing developments surrounded by fences(target hardening)cocooning, determinate sentencing, prisonomics, and weaponry for the civilian population.(31).

The Liberal Left or what is left of the Left has become so suspect, that spokesman and politicos that want to survive generally endorse conservative crime strategies regardless of their merit(32).

RICHARD QUINNEY

If only Professor Quinney could have died in 1974. That was the last year when the Left was viable here in the United States. Remember? President Nixon was ousted from office and Liberals were elected to congress. By 1978, conservatism was back in force. This has been valid in the states up to a brief dip in 92' followed by another surge in 1994.

Quinney was one of the first along with Dennis Wrong to question conservative sociology in 1965. By the early 70's, he became famous for his "social reality of crime." It was a Non-Marxian explanation of how the powerful are likely to shape the laws and the courts to their advantage.

This is the Quinney most criminological students are familiar with. If Quinney was following academic and social trends for his own personal fame, he would have soon move to the political Right with the country.

This he did not do. Marxism became his intellectual center and he wrote about it in mystical terms. Like a Rightist converted to Pareto and his insights, he became an arch defender of a Marxist society yet to exist.

In the 80's, he turned to religion. And from there, he moved to pragmatism.

His criminology is now about peace making. Although he borrows from Marx and Siddhartha the Compassionate Buddha, his criminology is pragmatic.

For these authors, this change represent a change of incredible courage and intellectual honesty. How many great academics go to their grave claiming absolute validity when portions of their theories begin to crumble?

His criminology now talks about early intervention, community policing, and mediation in a market economy. What else is he saying?

There is still room for intellectual Marxist criticism as there is for Paretian criticism or Freudian criticism. He is willing to dialogue with anyone across the political spectrum. What works in a social democratic market economy?
He does not chastise others that do not share his religious perspective although he remains at this writing a Chan or Zen Buddhist.
For those who commit crime and are caught, he wants them to be penalized, sanctioned, and to pay restitution. When possible, some can be rehabilitated. Further, he wants victims to be compensated, provided with justice, and given solace and emotional support.
He accepts that in the best of all worlds, crime will exist.
He has not softened his stance against white crime or white collar crime. He will not accept that there is acceptable crime that is committed by the elite.

In summary, Quinney is to be honored for three reasons.

a) he was willing to change.

b) he will be remembered for his" social reality of crime."

c) he will be remembered for being an instrumental Marxist and using this application to crime that did not endure, and -that he was able to rebound from that situation.(33)

In many respects, we have all become capitalists. The question is what kind of capitalism will we have and how will it apply to crime? A number (Marxist/Fabians, Social Democrats, and Liberals) will look back in nostalgia. There was a time when the Left thought that societies could be created that afforded viable industries, pretty parks, unpolluted country sides, worker security, and peaceful societies. It appears that the model of what lies ahead is Brazil. It is a capitalism filled with crime, corruption, and violence.(34) For those professionals that feel they are secure and part of the overclass, they should re-think their perception. It is now very easy not only to outsource manual labor, but professional work can also be vulnerable as Lars-Erik Nelson notes in "Global Wage Will Influence Prevailing Wage."(35)

In the meantime, as we march to the Right as a society, one should expect that as long as Quinney survives, criminologists will be reading him, if they like him or not.

ENDNOTES

l. Siegal, Larry CRIMINOLOGY 4th edition,(St. Paul: West Publishing 1992)p.43

Toffler. Alvin & Heidi CREATING A NEW CIVILIZATION: THE POLITICS OF THE THIRD WAVE, (Atlanta: Turner Publishing) 1995. See also Alvin & Heidi Toffler, "Getting Set for the Coming Millennium" THE FUTURIST, March-April 1995, p. 10-15.

Snell, Joel "Criminal Justice: A Review Essay of Richard Quinney, A Prominent Criminologist" COLLEGE STUDENT JOURNAL, Volume 27, #4, December 1993, 441-443.

Reeves, Richard "Driving down wages—workers, Europe seems doomed to economic decline" Universal Press Syndicate Opinion, THE GAZETTE, October 27, 1994. See also Glasgall, William, Javetski, Bill and Rose Brady , Robert Neff " Hot Money" BUSINESS WEEK, March 20, 1995, p. 46-51; Zuckerman, Mort, " Where Have The Good Jobs Gone?" US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, July 31, 1995; ________, "U S Wages Trickling Down, Profits are rolling in, but they're not reaching many workers" (Associated Press) THE GAZETTE, September 8, 1995, P. 8a; ________, "Study says business profits fuled by stagnant wages" September 1, 1995, p. 8a. Broder, David S. "Rewards for Winners Distort Pay, Life Itself" OMAHA WORLD HERALD, Wednesday, August 23, 1995, p. 13; Koretz, Gene "Where Has All The Labor Gone?" BUSINESS WEEK, December 12, 1994, p. 30; Nelson, Lars-Erik "Foreign Competition Now Taking Away Upscale Jobs, Too" LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, September 4, 1995, p. 8; Pennar, Karen " A Long Line For Fast Food Jobs: For Every Post, 14 Applicants" BUSINESS WEEK, July 31, 1995. __________, "The Wage Squeeze; Productivity and Profits are up a lot. Paychecks aren't. Is the Economy Changing?" BUSINESS WEEK, July 17, 1995, pages 54-62.

Eckersly, Richard "The West's Deepening Cultural Crisis" THE FUTURIST, November-December, 1993 p.8-12. Broder, David "Democrats' Future" LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, July 3, 1995, p. 14;_______, "Worldwide, Study says. Families in a spin" (New York Times News Services) OMAHA WORLD HERALD, JUNE 7, 1995, P.12A. Popenoe, David "American Family Decline, 1960-1990: A Review and Appraisal" JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY, August 1993, 527-555. Snell, Joel C. " A deadbeat dad and his effect on the others" THE GAZETTE, Sunday January 8, 1995, 7a; Wright, Robert "20th Century Blues" TIME, August 28, 1995, pages 50-57.

Stephens, Gene "The Global Crime Wave: And What We Can Do About It" THE FUTURIST, July-August 1994, p. 22-28.

Rush, Norman "What Was Socialism...And Why We Will Miss It So Much" THE NATION, January 23, 1994 p.90-93 From this article came a sharp rebuke and exchange between American socialists and Rush. Rush seemed to carry the day. Please see "Exchange..Play It again, Karl" THE NATION, March 7, 1994, p. 290 7 p. 316-319. See also Elson, John"In Search of Apologies, A Leftist historian asks other radicals to admit their moral complicity in the evils of communism" TIME, August 22, 1994. Other responses include a comment on eurosocialism or social democratic revisionism "Editorials: Starting Over" THE NATION, June 20, 1994, 855. See Herb, Jeffery, "Exile and Return" THE NEW REPUBLIC, February 27, 1995, p. 38-41. Also, see "Burnt Out, Prosperity and the death of communism have brought socialism in Europe to the verge of extinction" TIME, April 12, 1993, p.40-41; Knight, Robin, "Laying Off Nanny: Economic hardships forces Western Europe to shrink the welfare state" U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, October 25, 1993, p.41-44. Crumley, Bruce "Farewell to welfare" TIME, November 22, 1993, p. 51-52. Heilbroner, Robert " Looking Forward: Does Socialism have a future?" THE NATION, September 27, 1993, p. 312-315.Singer suggest that the American model is the theme of Rightist in other countries. This means cutting unemployment insurance of which 2 out of 3 do not have, cutting medical spending where anywhere from 38 million to 54 million do not have insurance ' on any one day, and other relative issues. See Singer, Daniel "The Triumph of Euroamericanism" THE NATION, December 12, 1994, 722-724. Since that time, there has been a mild upswing to the Left in the form of social democratic revisionist capitalism, see Singer, Daniel "In Europe, Hope Amid the Ruins" May 15, 1995, p. 676-678; Singer, Daniel "Ex-Communists and Rough Beasts" THE NATION, 580-582; Additionally, this Fabian revisionism is descibed in "The Road Not Taken" THE NEW REPUBLIC, August 22 & 29, 1994,38-40. Further, a conservative response to the rightward march is supplied by rightist Krauthammer, Charles "Jones Beach and the Decline of Liberalism" TIME, September 3, 1994, and Comes, Frank J. and Christopher Power "21st Century Capitalism" BUSINESS WEEK, January 10th, 1995, p. 12-13, as well as Klein, Joe "Wither Liberalism?" NEWSWEEK, November 21, 1994, p.56. All suggest the Liberalism or Neo-Liberalism is dead or dying. Th swing to the right is best explained in Dwyer, Paula "Should We Praise Maggie or Bury Her?" BUSINESS WEEK, August 28, 1995, p. 17; Michael Barone notes: the right usually wins, in " A Consumer Guide to politics" US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Sept. 4, 1995, p. 45; "So Much for Socialism" BUSINESS WEEK, June 12, 1995, p. 54; Reed, Stanley, BUSINESS WEEK, May 1, 1995, p. 61; Recently, Labour Party leader of England, Tony Blair declared: Working Together, Solidarity, Cooperation, Partnership. These are my words. This is my socialism. It is not the Socialism of Marx or state control, see ________, (New York Times) "Labor Leader Pulls Party to Center" OMAHA WORLD HERALD, MAY 28, 1995, Page 8b.

Siegal, Larry CRIMINOLOGY 4th Edition, (St. Paul: West Publishing) p. 130-131. Here Siegal discusses Robert Martinson's WHAT WORKS, Charles Murray (THE BELL CURVE co-author) and Loius Cox, BEYOND PROBATION, as well as the widely read James Q. Wilson's THINKING ABOUT CRIME.)

Walzer, Michael "Liberal Socialism" THE NEW REPUBLIC, August 22, 1995, p. 38-40.

Ibid, see Rush and others in footnote #7.

Will, George "Up from Geniality: Social Programs Americans like cause social pathologies they fear" NEWSWEEK, September 3, 1994, 76 and see Allan Crawford Pell's "The Right Stuff" THE NATION, December 5, 1994, p. 698-700.

ibid. An interesting response to the issue of private charity is found in the conservative BUSINESS WEEK, see McNamee, Mike " The GOP's Blind Faith in Charity" BUSINESS WEEK, March 6, 1995, p.65-66.

Schine, Eric "America's New Watchword: If it moves privatize it" BUSINESS WEEK, December 12, 1994, p. 39. Incidentally, this is the theme of the DLC of which much of the Left looked to President Clinton as the "new democrat." Thus, if there is a complete righward march, what can be saved? Will it work? How will these strategies affect the middle income and the poor.

Crumely, Bruce "Farewell to Welfare" TIME, November, 23, 1993, p. 51. There is an irony here, with the defeat of the Clinton medical plan as well as any other plans for that matter, medical doctors discovered that their success was short lived. The insurance companies turned on them and created HMO's and PHO's where MD's are no longer professional-entrepreneurs, but rather salaried workers for HMOs where medical care is no longer determined by the medical community, but by the insurance corporations. See Lewis, Claude "Many doctors grow sick of insurance companies' control"(Knight Ridder News) THE GAZETTE, Wednesday, July 26, 1995, p. 6a. Further the reader should note that some 50 of employer based health programs have been cut back in the last three years Zuckerman, Mortimer "It's Still the Econmomy" U. S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, October 24, 1994, p. 92.

Klein, Joe "If Chile Can Do It" NEWSWEEK, December 12, 1994, p. 50; Regan, Mary Beth 'The GOP's Guerilla War On Green Laws" BUSINESS WEEK, December 12, 1994, 102-103.

Snell, Joel C. "Will You Be Left Out of the New Society" THE GAZETTE, Wed. June 30, 1993 p. 4a

Snell, Joel C. "Public/Private corporation will play job role in the future" THE GAZETTE, Thurs. July 1, 1993. 5a.

First, there isn't any question that the global information economy has brutalized poor families and conservative BUSINESS WEEK acknowledges this in Christopher Farrell and Karne Pennar "Welfare Reform Won't Patch Up Poor Families" BUSINESS WEEK, January 23, 1995, p. 78. However, the issue of population control of the underclass is directly discussed in the following that are generally liberal references. They include Gorman, Christine "Dollars for Deeds" TIME, May 18, 1994, p. 51; Ingrassia, Michele and John McCormack "Why Leave Children With Bad Parents? NEWSWEEK, April 25, 1994, p. 52-58. Tice, DJ "Bell Curve's Painful Truths (Knight Ridder News) St. Paul's Pioneer Press, December 7, 1994, p. 7a; Raspberry, William "Residential University Instead of Orphanages"(Washington Post Writer's Group) THE GAZETTE, Oct. 5. 1994, p. 6a. Goodman , Ellen, "We Can Say No to Welfare Mothers..." (The Boston Globe Newswriters)LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, October 10, 1994, p. 18. Rowan, Carl "Who Should Be Allowed to Bear Babies?" LIBERAL OPINION , Oct. 19, 1994, p.18 Kaus, Mickey " Will Contract Induce Abortions? LIBERAL OPINION, February 6, 1995, p. 12; Ivins, Molly " Targeting Welfare Fathers" LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, February 6, 1995,p. 10; Pollit, Katha "Subject to Debate(Vasectomies for Deadbeat Dads) THE NATION, January 30, 1995, p. 120; Kaplan, Arthur "New Contraceptive May Break Moral Stalemate" St. Paul Pioneer Press, February 7, 1995, 7a. As noted in the body of the paper Andrew Hacker's "Malign Neglect: The Crackdown on African-Americans" THE NATION p. 45-49. This isssue is also discussed in Moynihan, Daniel Patrick "Defining Deviancy Down" THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR, 1993, p. 17-30; Rushton,.J. Phillippe " Race and Crime: An International Dilemma" SOCIETY, January/ February, 1995,p. 37-41,-Tucker, Cynthia "Black Leaders Fail To Confront Black Crime" LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, May 13, 1995, p 17.

Kuttner, Robert "Needed: A Two Way Social Contract In The Workplace" BUSINESS WEEK, July 10, 1995,p. 22.

Kuttner, Robert "Rewrite The Regulatory Rulebook-Don't Tear It Up" BUSINESS WEEK, February 20, 1995, p. 26.

See Dililuo, in Charon, Mona."Thin Blue Line Not Powerful Enough" (Creators Syndicate) Omaha World Herald, May 2, 1195 p. 13a.

There is no question of the validity of Seymour Melman's the rich getting richer and the poor getting prison. The discussion of Bonger and other Marxist criminologist "over extended" in the sense that they assumed that an ideal or near ideal system could be created. However, there are no longer Utopias on the Left and the current countries that lay claim to Marx are not necessarily just. Murphy, Jeffrie "Marxism and Retribution" in Wasserstrom, Richard TODAY'S MORAL PROBLEMS, (New York: Macmillan Co.) 1975, 323-345. It was Engels who made the application of Marxism to crime. See chapter 10 of Siegal, Larry CRIMINOLOGY, 4th Edition, (St. Paul: West) 1992, 256-269.

Siegal, Larry CRIMINOLOGY, 4th Edition, (St. Paul: West) 1992, p. 275-276.

ibid, p. 593.

Walker, Samuel SENSE AND NONSENSE ABOUT CRIME, A POLICY GUIDE, ( Belmont, California: Wadsworth) 1985 p.168

Siegal, Larry CRIMINOLOGY (St. Paul: West ) 1992, 130-151.

Siegal, Larry CRIMINOLOGY (St. Paul: West) 1992, p. 121.

Whitman, David et. al "The White Underclass" U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, October 17, 1994, p. 43-53.

Walker, Samuel SENSE AND NONSENSE ABOUT CRIME, A POLICY GUIDE, (Belmont, California: Wadsworth) 1985, p.223.

Snell,Joel C. "Is Prisonomics Lurking In Our Future" CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE, June 26, 1994; Davis, Mike "The Prison-Industrial Complex : Hell Factories in the Field" THE NATION, February 20, 1995, p. 229-234. Jackson, Jesse "Prisons Are One of Our Leading Growth Industries" LIBERAL OPINION, September 4, 1995, p. 3; Piano, Libero Delia "Clinton's Crime Bill" PUBLIC AFFAIRS, November 4, 1994, p.11-15 (This last article is written by an American communist. Gone is the ideological bombast. This communist indicates that a jobs program would reduce crime.) See also Layco, Richard "Prisons: The Real Hard Cell" TIME, September 4, 1995, p. 31.

Nelson, Lars-Erik, "Georgia Democrat Embodies Roosevelt Legacy" LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, May 1, 1995, p. 31. The author notes how this Georgia Democrat delivers on social programs, but is tough on crime and welfare (for those who are able bodied.)

At the time of this writing, the NRA wants former felons to have the right to a gun. Legislation is supported by Rep. Jim Ross Lightfoot of Iowa.

See Snell, Joel C. "Criminal Justice Education: A Review Essay of Richard Quinney, A Prominent Criminologist" COLLEGE STUDENT JOURNAL, December 1993, 441-443

Farrell, Christopher " And the Elite Should Inherit the Earth" BUSINESS WEEK, August 7, 1995, p. 12

Nelson, Lars-Erik, "Global Wage Will Influence Prevaling Wage" LIBERAL OPINION WEEK, July 31, 1995. p. 31.