class, power and crime

Question 1

Why do Marxists think crime is inevitable in capitalist society?

Answer 1

• capitalism is criminogenic
• causes crime by its very nature
• endorses the unequal divide between classes, committing crime is sometimes the only way people can live

Question 2

What does Snider think?

Answer 2

• selective enforcement
• the capitalist state id reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability

Question 3

What does Pearce think about the ideological functions of law?

Answer 3

• ideological functions of law
• laws give capitalism a ‘caring’ face and creates a false consciousness among workers
• state enforces crime selectively making crime look like a working class phenomenon
• this divides the working class due to how it encourages workers to blame criminals rather than capitalism

Question 4

What does Chambliss think about law making?

Answer 4

• laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy
• the ruling class have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that would threaten their interests

Question 5

Evaluation for the Marxist view of crime

Answer 5

• ignores relationships between crime and other social factors (gender, ethnicity)
• too deterministic, assumes all working class people commit crime
• if capitalism was criminogenic, why does it occur in communist societies
• not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
• the criminal justice system does sometimes act against the the bourgeoise by punishing corporate crime.

Question 6

What do Neo-Marxists believe about capitalism

Answer 6

• capitalist societies are based on exploitation and class conflict
• capitalism should be replaced with a classless society
• the state makes and enforces laws in the interests of the capitalist class

Question 7

What is Taylor et al and what do they believe?

Answer 7

• neo-marxists
• they criticise marxists for economic determinism
• crime is a meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor
• crime often has a political motive (like robin hood)
• criminals are not passive puppets shaped by capitalism, they are striving to change society.

Question 8

What is Taylor et al’s ‘fully social theory of deviance’?

Answer 8

• a theory to understand deviance and crime
• takes into account:
  
  • (unequal distribution of wealth and power)
  • (the context in which the person decides to commit)
  • the act itself
  • immediate origins of social reaction
  • (who has the power to define actions as deviant and to label others)
  • the affects of labelling

Question 9

evaluation of neo-marxism

Answer 9

• left realists – neo-marxists do not take crime seriously and ignore its effects on victims
• left realists – neo-marxists romanticise working class criminals as ‘robin hoods’ when in reality, criminals prey on the poor.
• burke – neo-marxism is too general to explain crime and too idealistic to tackle crime

Question 10

Two types of white collar crime

Answer 10

• occupational crime – crimes committed by employees for their own personal gain, which is often crime against their work. (stealing from company or its customers)
• corporate crime – crimes committed by employees for their organisation in pursuit of its goals (deliberately misselling products to increase company profits)

Question 11

types of corporate crime

Answer 11

• financial crimes (tax evasion, money laundering, fraud)
• crimes against consumers (false labelling, selling unfit goods)
• crimes against employees (sexual, racist discrimination)
• crimes against environment (waste dumping)
• state-corporate crime (private companies involvement in war)

Question 12

Why might corporate crime go unnoticed or unpunished?

Answer 12

• lack of will to tackle it (politicians care more about street crime)
• the media (gives very limited coverage)
• de-labelling (its often filtered out from the process of criminalisation)
• under-reporting (not necessarily an obvious victim therefore people may not notice it)
• complexity (police lack the technical expertise to investigate effectively)

Question 13

What is Box’s explanation of corporate crime?

Answer 13

• Using Merton’s Strain theory, Box argues that if a company can’t reach its profit goal legally then it may employ illegal means instead

Question 14

What is Sutherland’s differential association?

Answer 14

• differential association
• sees crime as a behaviour learned from others in a social context
• if we associate with people who have criminal attitudes, we are more likely to become deviant ourselves

Question 15

What is Nelken’s explanation of labelling with corporate crime?

Answer 15

• labelling theory
• unlike the working class, businesses and professionals have the power to avoid labelling.
• they can afford lawyers and accountants

Question 16

What is the Marxist explanation of corporate crime?

Answer 16

• corporate crime is the result of the normal functioning of capitalism
• due to how capitalism’s goal is to maximise profits, it inevitably causes harm to employees and consumers.