Explanations - Marxists Flashcards
Marxist theory of crime (intro)
Crime and deviance doesn’t have a function for the whole of society
bourgeoisie benefits from crime and deviance
Marxists look at the type of laws that are passed and enforced and who benefits from these laws
The capitalist system drives people to commit crime, and capitalism can be seen as being “criminogenic”
This means that crime is a natural outcome of capitalist practices and values
Ideology and control
- “Ideology” is a system of ideas and beliefs
Dominant ideology are ideas that suit the powerful bourgeoisie and their interests
* aim to put the [powerless] proletariat in their place
“Capitalist ideology” presented as fact, makes up our reality
- so that everyone accepts these ideas
- they fail to question whether they are true or present our interests (false class consciousness)
Society is socialised or brainwashed into accepting the capitalist ideology
the way bourgeoisie to control the proletariat
Althusser
He stated that the proletariat are controlled by two institutions:
Repressive State Apparatus (RSA)
Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)
RSA
Repressive State Apparatus (RSA)
Direct, obvious and formal controls such as the Government, police and criminal justice system. Can operate at a violent level
ISA
Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)
Indirect, less obvious and informal such as family, media education and religion
These institutions show the public who are criminal/deviant and they use these messages to scare and divide us
In order for RSA justification to work, ISA is needed
Bonger
Much crime is caused by poverty; during economic depression, the crime rate amongst the poor increases
Capitalism creates a climate of competition and inequality due to unequal distribution of resources
This promotes greed, individualism, materialism, domination and racism, and NOT co-operation
Capitalism creates crime due to desperation and it increases alienation which then further increases crime
Chambliss
The capitalist economic system generates crime
1) Structure of capitalism creates desire to consume
- but the inability to earn enough money in order to consume the goods we want leads to contradiction, thus results in crime
2) Marx recognises that crime removes the proletariat from being a surplus work force
- they’re either in prison, or employed as people who can control crime (police)
3) Criminal acts occur throughout the whole class system
- however the enforcement of laws leads to the idea that crime is concentrated in the lower social classes
- which is not correct, because it ignores white collar crime
Gordon
retrieval cue: Kendrick Lamar TPAB
The focus of public fear and government control is on urban and violent crime
- at the expense of ignoring white collar crime, causes society a great deal of harm
Crime is rational response to situations that people find themselves in
- Capitalism creates conditions for crime to occur
“Ghetto crime” occurs in poor neighbourhoods where legitimate jobs are insecure, low paid and demeaning
The poor turn to crime as a rational response
Corporate crime occurs due to the competition in the capitalist economy
- Corporate crime is an attempt to maximise profits and beat the competition
Again, crime is a rational choice
Functionalist criticism of Marxism
eg Durkheim
Reject idea that there’s conflict between RC and WC
* by extension disagree with the idea that crime would be committed based on this factor
Functionalists view society as being based on shared consensus and N&Vs which are cohesive and hold society together
- RC & WC need to work together and adopt the same N&Vs in order for society to run smoothly and therefore crime would not be the result of conflict
Also argue that crime is inevitable (agrees with Marxists) but would advocate that crime is needed in society in order for it to evolve
Jones criticism of Marxist view of RC
> mfw crime is illegal O_0
RC do have power, but cannot monopolise power
- Role of power more complex than Marxists are stating
Capitalists cannot always pass the laws and rules they want, for instance insider trading could benefit the ruling class a great deal (inside knowledge about takeovers and mergers)
- However this is illegal and even though the ruling class would benefit from this, they’ren’t allowed to do it
However there are legal ways this happen, for example lobbying
Jones criticism of Marxism
Jones (2001) criticises Marxist theories and stated that capitalism does not always produce high crime rates. In Switzerland, the country has a very established capitalist system, but the crime rates are very low
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Marxists have been criticised for stating that communism would remove crime from society. Communism occurred in many Eastern European countries and Russia in the 1960’s and 1970’s, however crime was still prevalent and was still a problem. Therefore crime might always exist in a society no matter how the system is set up
