Class, Power and Crime Flashcards
outline the functionalist view of the law + crime + deviance
- Fs see the law as a reflection of society’s shared values
- crime is the product of inadequate socialisation into society’s shared culture
- in modern complex society, groups may develop their own separate subcultures
- e.g. Miller: WC has their own subculture with distinctive norms + values that clash with mainstream N+Vs, which is why the WC has a higher crime rate
outline the strain theorist view of crime + deviance
- strain theorists argue that people engage in deviant behaviour when their opportunities to achieve in legitimate ways are blocked
- e.g. Merton: American’s class structure denies WC people to achieve material success
- its usually the WC who feel the strain - so they seek illegitimate means of achieving it (innovation) - e.g. theft, fraud etc
- this explains the higher rate of utilitarian crimes amongst the WC
define utilitarian and non-utilitarian crimes
- utilitarian crimes = crimes for material gain, e.g. fraud, property crime, theft
- non-utilitarian crimes = crimes not for material gain, e.g. violent crimes, truancy, vandalism
outline the subcultural theorist view of crime + deviance
- Merton: the WC suffer due to their blocked opportunities to achieve success through legitimate means
- e.g. Cohen: WC youths are culturally deprived and lack the means to achieve educationally and so experience status frustration
- the delinquent subcultures that WC join is a solution to their status frustration, thus they’re are more likely to commit utilitarian crimes
what do Cloward and Ohlin say
Cloward + Ohlin:
- they build on Merton + Cohen’s idea of subcultures by using the concept of illegitimate opportunity structures to explain why different crimes are more commonly committed by the WC
- they identified criminal subcultures in WC neighbourhoods which offer; criminal careers, ‘turf/ gang wars’, and a retreatist drug dropout culture
outline the labelling theorist view on crime + deviance
- they reject the idea that official stats are a useful resource for sociologists that give a valid picture of which class commits most crime
- instead of focusing on the causes of WC criminality, they focus on why + how WC people come to be labelled as criminal
- they emphasize the stereotypes held by law enforcement agencies + their power to successfully label powerless groups
what is the name functionalist, strain and subcultural theorists are called
- ‘problem-takers’
- they take for granted that official statistics are accurate and that WC crime is an issue that needs to be explained
- they focus their efforts on finding the cause of the problem - e.g. inadequate socialization
- labelling theorists take a different approach
what is the name labelling theorists are called
- ‘problem-makers’
- they don’t see official stats as a valid resource or a social fact
- OS are a topic whose construction must be investigated by studying the power of control agents to label WC people as criminals
(MARX.) what do Marxists agree + disagree with labelling th. in terms of crime
- agree with labelling theorists that the law is enforced disproportionately against the WC and so official crime stats cant be taken at face value
- they criticize labelling th. for failing to examine the wider structure of capitalism from which law making/ enforcement + offending take place
(MARX.) what are the 3 main elements of the Marxist view of crime
- criminogenic capitalism
- the state and law making
- ideological functions of crime and law
(MARX.) outline criminogenic capitalism for WC
- capitalism is criminogenic - its nature causes crime + crime is inevitable
- Cap is based on the exploitation of the WC for profit, whatever the human cost is
- it is thus damaging to the WC and may give rise to crime;
- poverty may mean crime is the only way for the WC to survive, e.g. theft
- utilitarian C may be the only way for them to access the consumer goods encouraged by Cap advertising
- alienation + lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration, leading to non-utilitarian crimes like violence
(MARX.) outline criminogenic capitalism for other classes
- crime is not confined to the WC
- cap is a ‘dog eat dog’ system of ruthless competition among capitalists as the profit motive encourages greed + self interest
- this encourages capitalists to commit white collar + corporate crimes such as tax evasion + breaches of health and safety laws
(MARX.) what does Gordon say
- Gordon: crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and so is found in all classes even though official statistics make it appear to be a WC phenomenon
(MARX.) outline the state and law making
- Marxists see law making + enforcement as only serving the interests of the capitalist class
- the RC also have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that would threaten their interests/ profitability/ the unequal distribution of wealth
(MARX.) outline an example of the state and law making in capitalist society
- Chambliss: laws that protect private property are the cornerstone of capitalist economy
- e.g. the introduction of English law into British East Afr colonies to force the Afr population to work in their tea, coffee plantations for the Br econ
(MARX.) outline selective enforcement
- when it comes to the application of the law by the criminal justice system, there is selective enforcement
- powerless groups such as the WC + EMs are criminalised whilst the police + courts ignore crimes of the powerful
- because laws are enforced selectively, crime appears as a WC phenomenon, dividing them against the common enemy of capitalism
(MARX.) outline the ideological functions of passing laws
- law, crime + criminals also perform an ideological function for capitalism by giving it a ‘caring face’
- laws are occasionally passed for the benefit of the WC, e.g. welfare, drug laws to mask the fact that those in power dont care about those below them
(MARX.) what does Pearce say about the ideological functions of crime and law
- Pearce: health and safety laws ‘protecting’ society often benefit the RC - e.g. by keeping workers fit for work
- these laws give capitalism a ‘caring face’ and also create a flare consciousness amongst workers
- also these laws aren’t actually well enforced
(MARX.) outline 4 AO3 evaluations of Marxism
- ignores the relationship between non-class inequalities like race + gender with crime
- too deterministic + overestimates the amount of crime in the WC; not all poor people commit crime
- not all capitalist societies have high crime rates; homicide rates in Japan + Switzerland is only about 1/5 of in the USA
- Left Realists: M. ignores intra-class crimes (where both criminal + victim are WC)
(Neo-Marx) outline the Neo-Marxist view
- Neo-Marxists combine ideas of Marxism with other approaches - eg. labelling
(Neo-Marx) what aspects of Marxism does Taylor et al agree with
Taylor agrees with Marxism that:
- capitalist societies are based on exploitation + class conflict
- the state makes + enforces laws in the interests of the RC + criminalizes the WC
- Capitalism should be replaced with a classless society - would reduce crime
(Neo-Marx) outline Taylor et al’s anti-determinism
Taylor argues that Marxism is too deterministic:
- it sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessity
- Taylor rejects this explanation + theories that say crime is caused by anomie, subcultures, labelling or biological/ psychological factors
- T takes a voluntaristic view (the idea that we have free will): they see crime as a conscious choice
- crime often has a political motive; criminals are not passive puppets controlled by capitalism, they deliberately strive to change society
(Neo-Marx) outline Taylor’s aim to create a ‘fully social theory of deviance’
- Taylor aims to create a ‘fully social theory of deviance’ - a comprehensive understanding of crime + deviance that would help to positively change society
- this theory has 2 main sources: Marxism (ideas about unequal distribution of wealth + power) and interactionism + labeling (meaning of the deviant act for the actor, societal reactions, effects of deviant label)
(Neo-Marx) outline evaluations of critical criminology
- Left Realists: CC romanticizes WC criminality as ‘Robin Hoods’ who fight capitalism by redistributing wealth - in reality WC crime harms other WC people
- LR: Taylor doesn’t take WC on WC crime seriously + ignores its effect on victims
- Burke: CC is too general to explain crime + too idealistic to tackle crime
outline white collar crime
- the term white collar crime was coined by Sutherland
- Sutherland defined it as; ‘crime committed by a person of respectability + high social status in the course of their occupation’
- there are 2 types: occupational, and corporate crime
define the 2 types of white collar crime
- occupational crime = committed by employees simply for their own personal gain - often against the organization for which they work in, e.g. stealing from the company
- corporate crime = committed by employees for their organization in pursuit of its goals, e.g. deliberately mis-selling products to increase company profits
what do Pearce and Combs define corporate crime as
Pearce and Comb:
- corporate crime = any illegal action/ omission that is the result of deliberate decisions or culpable negligence by a legitimate business organization and that intends to benefit the business
- this includes breaches of civil + administrative law - not just criminal law
outline the scale of corporate crimes
- white collar + corporate crime do more harm than ‘ordinary’ / street crime, e.g. theft
- Tombs: corporate crime has enormous cost: physical (death, injuries), environmental (pollution) and economic (to consumers, workers, taxpayers, Govt)
- Tombs claims CC isn’t the work of a few ‘bad apples’, but more so ‘widespread, routine and pervasive’
state the 5 types of corporate crime
1) financial crimes
2) crimes against consumers
3) crimes against employees
4) crimes against the environment
5) state-corporate crime
outline financial crimes as a type of corporate crime
financial crimes:
- e.g. tax evasion (e.g. Starbucks), bribery, money laundering + illegal accounting
- victims include other companies, shareholders, taxpayers + Govts
outline crimes against consumers as a type of corporate crime
crimes against consumers:
- includes: false labelling, selling unfit goods (e.g. PIP breast implants scandal), ‘food crime’ (e.g. Tesco horse meat scandal)
- e.g. scandal of faulty breast implants in France
- e.g. popular British supermarkets selling horse meat in ‘burgers’
outline crimes against employees as a type of corporate crime
crimes against employees:
- e.g. sexual, racial discrimination, violation of wage laws + of rights to join a union + of health and safety laws (e.g. Rana Plaza)
- Tombs: up to 1,100 work related deaths occur per year due to employers breaking the law - this is more than annual total of homicides
outline crimes against the environment as a type of corporate crime
crimes against the environment:
- e.g. illegal pollution of air, water, land - e.g. toxic waste dumping
- following an investigation by US authorities in 2015, Volkswagen admitted installing software in 11 million cars that disguised the emission levels that were 40x over the legal limit
outline state-corporate crime as a type of corporate crime
state-corporate crime:
- refers to the harm committed when Govt institutions + businesses cooperate to pursue their goals
- this is an increasingly important subject, as private companies now work alongside Govt in many areas - e.g. in privatized public services (e.g. education)
- e.g. private companies in the US military have been accused of involvement in the torture of detainees in Iraq
outline an AO2 example of an oppressive law/policy + the Marxist view
Vagrancy Laws 1349:
- these laws required every able-bodied man to work at a low wage during the Black Death
- this ensured a low paid labour force
- Marxists: the Govt who enforced this is an institution owned by the bourgeoise who only care about profit - not the welfare of the proletariat
what does Palmer say about occupational diseases
- Palmer: estimates that occupational diseases cause 50,000 deaths a year in the UK
outline abuse of trust
- Carrabine: high status professionals occupy positions of trust + respectability
- we trust them with our finances, health, security + personal information - they can abuse this trust, e.g. by illegally diverting clients’ money
- this abuse of trust promotes cynicism + distrust of basic social institutions + creates social divisions
give an example of abuse of trust
- the GP Harold Shipman was convicted in 2000 of 15 murders of his patients - but is believed to have murdered over 200
what are the 5 ways in which corporate crime is able to be invisible
1) the media
2) lack of political will
3) the crimes are often complex
4) de-labelling
5) under-reporting
outline how the media allows corporate crime to be invisible
- the media gives very limited coverage to corporate crimes - reinforcing the stereotype that crime is a WC phenomenon
- they describe corporate crime in sanitised language - as technical infringements, rather than as real crime
- e.g. embezzlement becomes ‘accounting irregularities’, death at work are ‘accidents’ rather than employer negligence
outline how lack of political will allows corporate crime to be invisible
- there is a lack of political will to tackle corporate crime
- the politician rhetoric of being ‘tough on crime’ is focused instead on street crime
- e.g. while the Home Office uses crime surveys to discover the true extent of ‘ordinary crime’, it doesn’t do so for corporate crime
outline how the crimes often being complex allows corporate crime to be invisible
- law enforcers are often understaffed, under-resourced, and lacking the technical expertise to investigate complex corporate crime effectively
outline partial visibility of corporate crime
- although there are several factors which remove corporate crime from the dominant definition of crime, there is now partial visibility of corporate crime
- this is due to the financial crisis of 2008, from which the activities of people committing CC have been made more visible
- e.g. there are now campaigns against corporate tax avoidance (e.g. Occupy), investigative journalists, whistle blowers inside companies + the media
- but there is still not full visibility of CC
outline how de-labelling allows corporate crime to be invisible
- in laws + law regulation, corporate crime is consistently filtered out from the process of criminalisation/ labelling of criminals
- e.g. CC is often defined as civil not criminal, and even in criminal cases, fines are often given rather than jail
outline how under-reporting allows corporate crime to be invisible
- often the victim is society at large, or the environment rather than one individual
- individuals may be unaware they they have been victimised - e.g. may not realise you’ve been duped into buying the wrong mortgage
- evens when victims are aware, they may not regard it as ‘real crime’
- or they may feel powerless against a big corporation and so wont report it
outline the strain theorist explanation of corporate crime
- Merton’s anomie/ strain theory argues that deviance results from the inability of some people to achieve their goals legitimately
- e.g. to achieve the goal of material wealth, individuals may ‘innovate’ and use illegal means such as theft to acquire it
- Merton applies this to explain WC crime - but others apply it to CC
- Box: if a company cant achieve their goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may employ illegal means - e.g. tax avoidance
outline the differential association explanation of corporate crime
- Sutherland: sees crime as learned behaviours from others
- the more we associate with people who hold criminal attitudes, the more likely we are to become deviant ourselves
- thus, if a company’s culture justifies committing crimes to achieve corporate goals, employees will be socialised into this criminality
outline the labelling theorist explanation of corporate crime
- whether an act counts as a crime depends on if it has been successfully labelled as such
- its typically the WC who are more likely to have their actions defined as crimes
- Cicourel: MC are more likely to negotiate non-criminal labels for their misbehaviour
- sociologists have applied this to white collar crime in which the powerful have the power to avoid labelling (de-labelling/ non-labelling) - they can afford expensive lawyers + accountants to avoid being seriously charged/ labelled
- the reluctance of the CJS to investigate/ prosecute also reduces number of offenses officially recorded - thus official statistics under-estimate the extent of these offences
outline the Marxist explanation of corporate crime
- CC is a result of the normal functions of capitalism - as its main goal is to maximise profit - which leads to criminality among employers e.g. death + injuries among employees + consumers
- Box: capitalism has created ‘mystification’ - the idea that CC is less widespread or harmful than WC crime
- capitalisms control of state institutions means its able to avoid making/ enforcing laws that conflict with its interests
- Box: combines Marxism + strain and says corporations are criminogenic because, if they find the opportunity, they will utilise illegal means to gain profit
outline deviant subcultures as a concept that differential association is linked to (+ explains corporate crime)
deviant subcultures:
- these are groups who share a set of norms + values that differ from mainstream society
- they offer deviant solutions to their members’ shared issues - company employees face problems of achieving corporate goals and so may adopt deviant means to do so
- the culture of business may also favour + promote competitive, aggressive personality types who are willing to commit crime to achieve success
what are the 2 other concepts that differential association is linked to
- deviant subcultures
- techniques of neutralisation
outline techniques of neutralisation as a concept that differential association is linked to (+ explains CC)
techniques of neutralisation:
- Sykes and Matza: argues individuals can deviate more easy if they produce justifications to neutralise moral objections to their misbehaviour
- e.g. white collar criminals may say they were carrying out orders from their superiors, blame the victim (‘should’ve read the small print’), normalise it by claiming that ‘everyone does it’
outline AO3 evaluations of theorists view of Corporate Crime
- the strain + Marxist theory over-predicts the amount of CC - its unrealistic to assume all businesses would offend if not for the risk of punishment
- in the Marxist theory, the aim of profit doesn’t explain CC committed in non-profit making state agencies - e.g. the police, army, CJS who commit crimes against health and safety, the environment, and consumers
despite a new law against corporate homicide in _, there was only _ prosecution of a company in its first _ years, despite the large numbers of workplace deaths
- despite a new law against corporate homicide in 2007, there was only 1 prosecution of a company in its first 8 years, despite the large numbers of workplace deaths
(MARX.) outline the AO2 example of Grenfell Tower in terms of selective enforcement
- the Grenfell Tower is based in Chelsea; one of the most affluent areas
- in 2017, killed 72/350 residents
- the fire was due to the less safe - but cheaper - materials used in its construction (flammable cladding) which enabled the fire to spread quicker
- Laws around construction were ambiguous and allowed loopholes for cheaper construction
- constructors of the block are also to blame as they cut corners to spend less money; there was zero accountability/ repercussions for the 72 deaths + there was still no change to the building after - the same cladding was installed after
(MARX.) outline the AO2 example of workplace deaths in terms of selective enforcement
- 5 men were crushed to death at a scrap metal plant, in 2016 when a 5 metre high wall + over 250 tonnes of metal fell on them
- their widows feel ‘abandoned + ignored’ - argue the men were unlawfully killed
- the inquest jury found that there was a ‘foreseeable risk’ that the wall would collapse but their deaths were recorded as accidental
_ people were killed in the workplace in the UK in _
- 138 people were killed in the workplace in the UK in 2023
_ people are murdered in the USA per year - the figure for workplace deaths is over _x this number
- 20,000 people are murdered in the USA per year - the figure for workplace deaths is over 4x this number
(Marx.) outline Hall’s study of ‘Policing the Crisis’
- Hall analysed how the media, politicians, + police constructed a “mugging crisis” in 1970s Britain
- the sudden moral panic around “mugging” was not a response to a real increase in crime, but rather a symbolic focus that served to scapegoat young Black men + distract from deeper socio-economic crises, e.g. rising unemployment, inequality
- the study showed how the state used the panic to justify harsher policing + reinforce social control, esp for marginalized groups -shows how media, race, power intersect in constructing “crime” + shaping public perception
_ crime costs the USA _x more than ordinary crime
- corporate crime costs the USA 10x more than ordinary crime
outline the AO2 case study of the Rana Plaza
- a Bangladesh factory producing fast fashion collapsed - killing 1,100 people
- after years of protest, murder charges were filed to those involved in forcing workers to come in after a crack in the structure was alerted to factory owner
- highlights how corporate negligence, weak safety regulations, + capitalist pressures lead to mass death, yet the multinational brands at fault largely escaped accountability
- the case exposes structural inequality, where powerful corporations exploit low-wage workers, esp in the Global South, prioritizing profit over human life
outline the AO2 example of Abu Graib torture lawsuit
- 4 former Iraqi detainees sued the U.S. military contractor CACI Premier Technology for its role in their torture and mistreatment at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003-04
- apparently CACI conspired with U.S. military to subject them to severe abuse, e.g. beatings, sexual humiliation
- only in Nov 2024, they were awarded $42 million in damages, at last holding CACI accountable for its involvement
- This case highlights how those in positions of authority, e.g. govt contractors, can perpetrate human rights abuses under the disguise of official duties, often operating with immunity due to their influential status
