CRIME IS CHARACTERIZED AS A MACROSOCIAL PHENOMENON GENERALLY INVOLVING THREE PARTIES - THE PERSON WHOSE BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN LABELLED CRIMINAL, THE PENAL ESTABLISHMENT, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THE SOCIAL CONFLICT, OVER VALUES ALLOCATED BY THE PARTIES INVOLVED, IS DEFINED AS EXOGENOUS (LACKING A SUPER SYSTEM TO CONTROL OR RESOLVE THE CONFLICT), ASYMMETRIC (INVOLVING PARTIES WHICH ARE WIDELY DISPARATE AND/OR PERCEIVE EACH OTHER IN DIFFERENT WAYS), AND STRUCTURE-ORIENTED (ONLY RESOLVED THROUGH CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURE OF EITHER SYSTEM). IT IS ALSO TYPOLOGIZED AS A 'GAME', AN IRRATIONAL FIGHT BETWEEN THE COMPULSIVE CRIMINAL AND THE COMPULSIVELY SANCTIONING STATE, AND A 'DEBATE,' WITH THE STATE ATTEMPTING TO CONVERT THE APPREHENDED (PARTICULARLY POLITICAL) CRIMINAL INTO A CITIZEN IN ITS IMAGE AND LIKENESS. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.