Sociology Criminology

Question 1: How do conflict perspectives of crime differ from consensus perspectives? How would a conflict perspective of crime explain the illegalization of drug use? How would a consensus perspective do so?

Question 2: In The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander (2012) argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow, and that something akin to a racial caste system currently exists in the United States. Using evidence from her text, explain how the United States criminal justice system has functioned as the New Jim Crow to perpetuate racial inequality within the United States.

Question 3: Over the past 25 years violent crime and property crime have generally declined while the prison population has boomed. In this context, explain the concept of the prison industrial complex, as well as its connection to punitive (harsh) US penal policies and the War on Drugs. As part of your response, be sure to explain how social class and race and ethnicity impact legal outcomes in the United States.