Marxism Flashcards
What term is used to link capitalism and crime?
they call capitalism criminogenic
Who came up with capitalism being criminogenic?
Gordon
How did Gordon argue that capitalism is criminogenic?
Capitalists societies sociale people into a set of capitalist values
Competition - individualism - materialism and money as a measure of success
these promote crime through selfishness and greed
How has powerlessness and alienation lead to crime?
In the drive for greater profits and control it has lead to work being reorganised
All power, job satisfaction and creativity has been removed from the worker
So some wc men seek power through crime
What does Althusser say about the law?
He argues that it is an ISA and is used to hide the true inequality between social classes
How does Box argue that the law is socially constructed?
He argues that the law is there to protect the ruling class interests
He also claims that the ruling class often participate in activities that result in death, fraud, theft and injury
How do Marxists argue law enforcement is selective?
Marxists argue that the reason behind statistics showing WC committing more crime is because the higher chance of a crime being committed by a higher class people, the less likely it is to be treated as a criminal offence
E.g tax evasion vs social security fraud
Also argue that laws aimed at protecting the powerless groups are often weakly enforced and end up being punished
Who supports the idea of selective law enforcement?
Reiman
