class, power and crime

Question 1

How do functionalism, strain theory, subculturalist theories, labelling theory explain class differences in crime?

Answer 1

Not everyone is well socialised into society’s norms and values
Blocked opportunities
Material and culture deprivation and illegitimate opportunity structures
Don’t find official statistics useful, we must study the power of control agents to label WC as criminal

Question 2

In what 3 ways do Marxists view capitalism?

Answer 2

Criminogenic (cause or lead to criminal behaviour) capitalism
State and law making
Ideological functions of crime and law

Question 3

According to Marxists, what do the bourgeoisie own?
What happens to the proletariat?

Answer 3

Means of production
Their alienated labour is exploited for profit

Question 4

According to Marxists, what is the main cause of crime?
In what 3 ways does capitalism cause crime?

Answer 4

Capitalism
Exploitation
Alienation
Relative deprivation

Question 5

According to criminogenic capitalism, how does exploitation cause crime?
What types of crime does exploitation produce?

Answer 5

Capitalism exploits the WC
This is by paying them very low wages
Utilitarian crimes e.g. theft

Question 6

According to criminogenic capitalism, how does alienation (disconnection from society) cause crime?
What types of crime does alienation produce?

Answer 6

WC feel no connection to the job they’re doing
Leads to frustration
Violent crimes e.g. DV

Question 7

According to criminogenic capitalism, how does relative deprivation (deprivation) cause crime?
What types of crime does relative deprivation produce?

Answer 7

Advertisement creates relative deprivation to the WC
Subject to feeling poor as you can’t afford things
Economic crimes e.g. fraud

Question 8

How do Marxists see the role of law enforcement?
Which perspective does this contrast?

Answer 8

Only serving the interests of the capitalist class
Functionalists- believe law enforcement as reflecting value consensus

Question 9

What do labelling theorists and Marxists both agree on? Explain

Answer 9

Selective enforcement
All classes commit crime, but classes and ethnic minorities are criminalised
Police and courts tend to ignore the crimes of the powerful

Question 10

How does the law, crime and criminals perform an ideological function for capitalism?

Answer 10

Laws are occasionally passed that benefit the WC, rather than capitalism
But sociologists argue that these laws benefit capitalism, by keeping them fit to work

Question 11

Give 2 examples of how laws benefit appear to benefit the WC, but ultimately benefits capitalism

Answer 11

Sick pay, bills are paid, paid by gov not company
Holiday pay, 4 weeks off, productive worker after

Question 12

What are 3 criticisms of Marxists?

Answer 12

Deterministic- not all poor people commit crime despite pressures, also overpredicts the amount of crime by the WC
Ignores intra-class crimes
Ignores the relationship between crime and non-class inequalities e.g. ethnicity and gender

Question 13

What are neo-marxists (critical criminology)?
What do neo-marxists Taylor et al argue?
How do they see crime?

Answer 13

Sociologists influenced by Marxist ideas, buy combine these with approaches such as labelling theory
Marxism is too deterministic, they take a more ‘voluntaristic (free-will)’ view
Meaningful action and a conscious choice

Question 14

What do Taylor et al aim to create?
What key (4) aspects needs to be united to complete this theory?

Answer 14

A ‘fully social theory of deviance’ -comprehensive understanding of crime that helps change society for the better
The origins of the deviant act
The act itself
The origins of social reaction
Effects of labelling

Question 15

How do left realists criticise critical criminology?

Answer 15

They romanticise WC criminals as ‘Robin Hoods’ who are fighting capitalism by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor
Taylor et al do not take such crime seriously and they ignore its effects on WC victims

Question 16

How does Sutherland define white collar crime?
What was Sutherland’s aim?
What does his definition fail to distinguish?

Answer 16

‘Crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation’
Challenge the stereotypes that crime is purely a lower-class phenomenon
Occupational crime- committed by employees for own personal gain e.g. embezzlement
Corporate crime- committed by employees for their company e.g. financial mis-selling

Question 17

Explain how corporate crimes impacts consumers

Answer 17

False labelling and selling unfit goods
2011 French gov recommended that women with breast implants from a specific manufacturer should have them removed as they were filled with dangerous silicone, rather than more expensive medical approved
300,000 implants had been sold to 65 countries

Question 18

Corporate crimes do more harm than ‘common’ crimes e.g. theft, give evidence to this
(scale of corporate crime)

Answer 18

In the USA, white collar crimes cost 10x more than ordinary crimes
Sociologists argue that corperate crime has significant costs e.g. physical (death, injuries, illnesses), environmental (pollution) and economic (to consumers, workers, gov)

Question 19

Explain how corporate crimes impacts the environment

Answer 19

Illegal pollution of air, water and land e.g. toxic waste dumping
Investigations found that Volkswagen admitted to installing software in 11 million of its diesel vehicles globally
Software could detect when engines were tested and found emission levels were 40x above legal limit

Question 20

Explain how corporate crimes impacts employees

Answer 20

E.g. sexual and radical discrimination
It was calculated by sociologists that up to 1,100 work related deaths a year involve employers breaking the law
This is more than the annual rates of homicide
Estimated that occupational diseases cause 50,000 deaths a year in the UK

Question 21

Why is it easier for high-status professionals to abuse trust?
Give an example of corporate abuse of trust

Answer 21

They are respected, we trust them with our finances, health, security, personal information
Global accountancy firm admitted to criminal wrong doing and paid a $456M fine for it’s role in tax fraud

Question 22

How can accountants and lawyers abuse our trust? (2)

Answer 22

Employed by criminal organisations e.g. launder criminal funds into legitimate businesses
Act corruptly by inflating fees and committing forgery

Question 23

How can health professionals abuse our trust? (2)

Answer 23

USA seen fraudulent claims to insurance companies for treatments that haven’t been performed
In UK dentists have claimed payments from the NHS for treatments they have not carried out

Question 24

Why are corporate crimes often seen as ‘invisible’? Why is this? (3)

Answer 24

They are not seen as real crimes
Media
De-labelling
Complexity

Question 25

Explain how the media makes corporate crimes invisible?

Answer 25

Limited coverage to corporate crime
Reinforces the stereotype that crime is a WC phenomenon
Use sanitized language to protect them e.g. embezzlement is ‘accounting irregularities’

Question 26

Explain how de-labelling makes corporate crimes invisible?
(labelling theory)

Answer 26

Corporate crime is filtered out from the process of criminalisation
Investigation and prosecution is limited e.g. offences are regarded as civil and not criminal and they are given fines rather than prison
Unlike the poor, corporate have the resources to de-label themselves as criminal e.g. via good lawyers

Question 27

Explain how the complexity of corporate crimes makes it invisible?

Answer 27

Law enforces are often understaffed, under resourced, and lacking technical expertise to investigate effectively

Question 28

What causes corporate crime according to Marxists?

Answer 28

Capitalism
Their goal is to maximise profits>harm e.g. deaths, injuries amongst employees and consumers
Capitalism has successfully created ‘mystification’-ideology that corporate crime is less widespread and harmful than WC crime

Question 29

Give 3 criticisms of Marxism crime

Answer 29

Over predict the amount of business crime
Doesn’t explain crime in non-profit state making agencies
Law abiding is more profitable than law breaking