Crime: Marxist and Neo-Marxist theories

Question 1

What is criminogenic capitalism? Give examples to support.

Answer 1

-Chambliss argues that W/C will commit crime because Poverty could mean that the only way to survive is crime, consumerism
leads to utilitarian crime, people feel alienated and
commit violent acts/vandalism.

-Also he argues that M/C + R/C will commit crime because = ‘dog-eat-dog’ environment – need to win at all costs leads to things like tax evasion, flouting health and safety rules.

AO2:Capitalism encourages corporate crimes through competition – firms will break the law to
post higher profits

Street crimes cost less than corporate crimes (insider trading, money laundering etc), yet
don’t get prosecuted as much!

In her research, street crime cost $4 billion, compared to $325 billion bailout of banks

Question 2

Evaluation of Criminogenic capitalism AO3:

Answer 2

-Postmodernists: Marxists are deterministic - doesn’t explain why some
-working-class people do not turn to crime despite precarious financial situations.
-People are not passive – they downplay people’s agency

-Crime has been and is prevalent in non-capitalist societies

Question 3

What is selective law enforcement ?

Answer 3

Reiman and Leighton
highlights how laws are applied differently based on social class, often favouring the wealthy and powerful.

Marxists argue that the legal system is structured to protect the interests of the ruling class while targeting marginalized groups.

This form of enforcement allows the crimes of the elite, such as corporate fraud or environmental harm, to go unpunished or
lightly penalized, whereas street crimes committed by the working class are prosecuted more harshly.

AO2: 2012, HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks, was implicated in a major scandal involving money laundering for drug cartels (billions of dollars)
No HSBC executives were criminally prosecuted
HSBC fined $1.9 billion (small fraction of their profits)