Conflict Theories: Probation And Parole Aspect Of Criminal Justice
Human Behavior Theories
Conflict Theory
Of the many theories that pertain to the probation and parole aspect of criminal justice, conflict theory stands out. This theory was founded by Karl Marx. Conflict theory states that power is at the center of every human relationship. It theorizes that there are only two types of people in the world: the people that have wealth and are in power and the working class, the powerless and poor. It holds the idea that it is in the best interest of the powerful to keep the powerless as disadvantaged as possible. Conflict theory focuses on the inequality in society, on the competition amongst the classes.
Alexander Liazos (1972), a conflict theorist, stated the people that society labels as deviant are also, more often than not, the people who would be categorized as powerless and poor. That is often true in the probation system. The wealthy can afford expensive lawyers, court costs, and fees and are less likely to be subjected to supervised probation.
Probation officers have both legitimate power and coercive power. Legitimate power exists when a person believes that another person has power over them (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p.523). In this case, legitimate power is obtained by the law giving the probation officer …show more content…
The scientific management theory is sometimes referred to as Taylorism. Frederick Taylor theorized that workers need massive amounts of supervision and management, along with adequate payment and time off, to be successful in the workplace (Hindle, 2009). The idea this theory proposes is that workers will be more productive in less time with closer supervision. It basically states that workers are lazy and without stricter guidelines and monitoring would take advantage of hourly pay by doing as little work as possible in the most
Conflict Theory
Of the many theories that pertain to the probation and parole aspect of criminal justice, conflict theory stands out. This theory was founded by Karl Marx. Conflict theory states that power is at the center of every human relationship. It theorizes that there are only two types of people in the world: the people that have wealth and are in power and the working class, the powerless and poor. It holds the idea that it is in the best interest of the powerful to keep the powerless as disadvantaged as possible. Conflict theory focuses on the inequality in society, on the competition amongst the classes.
Alexander Liazos (1972), a conflict theorist, stated the people that society labels as deviant are also, more often than not, the people who would be categorized as powerless and poor. That is often true in the probation system. The wealthy can afford expensive lawyers, court costs, and fees and are less likely to be subjected to supervised probation.
Probation officers have both legitimate power and coercive power. Legitimate power exists when a person believes that another person has power over them (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p.523). In this case, legitimate power is obtained by the law giving the probation officer …show more content…
The scientific management theory is sometimes referred to as Taylorism. Frederick Taylor theorized that workers need massive amounts of supervision and management, along with adequate payment and time off, to be successful in the workplace (Hindle, 2009). The idea this theory proposes is that workers will be more productive in less time with closer supervision. It basically states that workers are lazy and without stricter guidelines and monitoring would take advantage of hourly pay by doing as little work as possible in the most