conflict theory of crime Flashcards
Discuss Crimogenic capitalism
Gordon
crimogenic captalism:idea that capitalism causes crime
ways in which capitalism brings about crime:
1.crime may be the only means o survival in an unequal capitalist society
w/c crime is realistic+rational repsonse to inequality as they find themselves in a situation where they are unable to provide for themselves or meet basic needs
2.low levels of job satisfaction in their line of work
-low paid jobs and status are repetitive and demoralising
-men may be going through a crisis of masculinity (women are now entering the workforce which was once there territory)
-men who lack power and status at work make up for this by exaggerating their authority in other areas of their lives
3.Capitalist ideology encourages the pursuit of materialistic values
-socialises people into accepting values E.G-competion,individualism,greed etc
-people become self-seeking selfish people who see crime as a way of achieving these materialistic goals
evaluation:
by blaming capitalism for crime it implies that people who break the law are excused and seen as ‘victims’
over predicts how much crime should be occurring
Discuss the selective law enforcement
Chambliss:
law punishes working class offenders more harshly
-crime data suggests that w/c crime is bigger
-crimes of the powerful are often downplayed or ignored
-occurs for 3 reasons
1.maintenance of privilege for those in position of power
2.maintenance of wealth inequalities i
3.divide and rule
Reiman:
-middle class crime is financially beneficial
-goes undetected
-w/c offenders receive harsher punishments
-rich get richer and the poor get prison
evaluation:
crimes committed by w/c people have bigger impact on society+demand people are punished
people don’t care about m/c crime
discuss Law as an ISA
Box
ISA:ideological state apparatus
-OCS imply w/c people are more likely to offend +are used to justify excessive controls of w/c communities by law enforcement
-law reproduced inequality through selective law enforcement
-law contributes towards false class consciousness by persuading people it benefits everyone equally
evaluation:
-those who work on the front line themselves are often of a m/c background themselves+aren’t working for capitalism
-some argue that the law is designed to support the value consensus
discuss Crimes of the powerful overview
two main categories of m/c crime:
white collar crime:professional person who commits crime for personal gain
corporate crime:group of people in a work place offend for benefit of the business
5 categories:
1.financial crime:specific offences which are motivated by money
2.crimes against consumers:customers are victims of crime
3.crimes against employees:employees are victims of crime
4.crimes against the environment:company’s operating in ways which damage the water,air or land
5.state-corporate crimes:businesses+government work together to participate in or to cover up legally or ethically questionable activities
discuss crimes of the powerful-middle class crime is underreported
five main reasons
1.media gives limited coverage
-average media audience is unlikely to be interested in m/c crime so don’t give it must attention
-those who run the media are often in same circles as those who committed the crime so don’t want to damage relations with them
2.government does not appear to have the willpower
-don’t want to deal with crimes committed by those in position of power
-happens because those who run big corporations are often political donors who give a lot of money to the government to support election campaigns
-large corporations will threaten to remove themselves from British economy if they feel government isn’t supportive
evaluation:
many powerful people have been prosecuted for their crime so the media is openly critical of their actions
discuss crimes of the powerful-why do m/c commit crime
1)Position of trust which is abused
Carrabine et al:
-High status professionals have a lot of power and are trusted.Eg police,doctors etc
-Leaves people vulnerable to be exploited
EXAMPLE: Harold Shipman is a GP killed 14 patients
-m/c crime is far more dangerous then w/c
evaluation:
-most people working in professional roles are there to provide help
-theory could lead to mistrust of professional who are the most honest in their roles
3.delabelling of m/c offences
-what counts as a crime largely depends on who has the authority to label an action illegal
-crimes can be labelled as illegal however can also been downplayed al they aren’t officially recognised as a crime
-corparate crimes are usually dealt with in civil court rather than criminal offences.
-they then pay compensation or make settlements with victims to avoid being identified as a criminal
-due to the law enforcement rarely prosecuting and convicting businesses of their crimes it’s more likely for more crimes to occur
-if people know they can get away with crime,they are more likely to do it-no deterrence-having no threat of punished
Why do middle class commit crime 2)middle class people also feel a sense of strain
BOX:
-middle class people get so far in their career but then encounter blocked opportunities which prevent them from getting further and making more money.
-feel sense of relative deprivation in which the feel disadvantaged compared to those who are more successful.
-results in them using innovation
evaluation:
-most businesses have strict security procedures to follow which makes it hard to offend
-businesses who practise ethically have better reputation and get more customers
Why do middle class commit crime 3)middle class professionals are able to learn skills via differential association
Sutherland:
-toxic masculinity+risk taking in financial sector.E.G-banking+stock market.Beahviour must be learnt through socialisation in profession
-Results in criminality becoming the normality
-occurs openly(everyone in corporation is involved ) or happened subtly (enterprise subculture)
-employees who commit crime use neutralisation techniques(people justify or excuse their crime as not wrong)
Evaluation
-whistleblowing policies make it harder for people to get away with crime at work->staff encourages to report wrong doing
-people who offend will usually get caught+lose job->not worth the risk
why do middle class commit crime 4)offenders often relabelled as being less severe
Nelken:
-what counts as a crime largely depends on who has the authority to label an action illegal
-crimes can be labelled as illegal however can also been downplayed al they aren’t officially recognised as a crime
-corparate crimes are usually dealt with in civil court rather than criminal offences.
-they then pay compensation or make settlements with victims to avoid being identified as a criminal
-due to the law enforcement rarely prosecuting and convicting businesses of their crimes it’s more likely for more crimes to occur
-if people know they can get away with crime,they are more likely to do it-no deterrence(having no threat of punished)
evaluation
-knowing you probably won’t be prosecuted is not excuse to break the law, people don’t think about this when committing crime
-peoples reputation can still be damaged even if they don’t face criminal charges E.G-Mps
