Marxism Flashcards
What is Criminogenic capitalism? (Gordon)
Crime is inevitable in a capitalist system,it’s nature causes crime
Why do people in poverty commit crimes? (Gordon)
-crime as a means of survival
-a way to obtain consumer goods
-alienation and a lack of control over their life resulting in frustration
Why do the wealthy commit crimes? (Gordon)
-capitalism is dog-eat-dog
-profit motive encourages greed and self interest
-the need to succeed encourages WCC
Evaluations for Gordon)
-not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
-deterministic not all poor people commit crimes
-offers an explanation for both utilitarian and non-utilitarian crime
What does Laureen Snider argue about the capitalist state?
-it’s reluctant to pass laws that regulate business activities
-large corps hold lots of power as system survives on profit
-profitable companies can influence or pressure leaders
Why does Snider think the laws benefit the rich?
-laws affecting the rich aren’t as enforced
-laws that could threaten corporate profits are unlikely to be introduced
-more likely to sanction poor offenders
What does Snider think of Criminogenic capitalism?
-corporate crime is a rational response to capitalism creating competition
What does Snider think of Law enforcement
-selective as street crime receives more attention from police even though it’s less costly
Evaluation for Snider?
-September 2021 HMRC estimated £5.5 billion loss from tax evasion vs £2.8 billion in benefit fraud
-but gov’t focuses more on benefit fraud
What does William Chambliss argue?
-law enforcement serves the interests of the capitalist class
-laws that protect private property are fundamental in capitalist economy
How does the law serve economic interest? (Chambliss(
-British introduced payable tax laws into British colonies to force them to work
How does the Ruling class define morality? (Chambliss)
-ruling class has the power to define what is morally or socially acceptable
-e.g media coverage of benefits fraud
What did Chambliss research?
-studied criminal activity in Seattle from 1962-72
-acccess to power and wealth determined arrests
-elite bribe police
What are the evaluations for Chambliss?
-prosecutions of corporate crime do occurs,Marxists believe this is an ideological function
How do health and safety laws benefit the rich? (Pearce)
1.keeping workers fit for works-secures profit
2.gives capitalism a caring face/create a false class-consciousness amongst workers
What are some evaluations for Pearce
X-functionalist believe that some laws are part of a general agreement
X-some criticised their ideas as being too radical l-assumes legal system exists to indoctrinate the WC
What is Neo-Marxism? (Taylor,Walton and Young?
-neo-Marxists combine traditional Marxist ideas with approaches such as labelling theory
What are Neo-Marxist beliefs? (Taylor,Walton and Young)
-capitalist society is built on exploitation,class conflict and inequality
-the state makes/enforces laws to benefit the capitalist class
-advocate for replacing capitalism with a classless society to reduce crimes
What is anti-determinism? (Taylor,Walton,Young)
-reject deterministic explanations for crime
-instead emphasis voluntarism,viewing crime as a conscious choice
What is Taylor,Walton and Young’s fully social theory of deviance?
-theory unites aspects of the unequal distribution of wealth,societal reactions and labelling within capitalist society
What are the components of a comprehensive theory of deviance? (Taylor,Walton and Young
1.Origins of deviant acts in unequal wealth and power
2.Immediate origins of the deviant act and its meaning for the actor
3.the act itself and its significance for societal reactions
4.wider origins of societal reactions in the structure of capitalist society
5.effects of labelling on the deviants future actions
What are Evaluations for Taylor,Walton and Young?
X-left realists criticise romanticising working class crime
X-feminists argue that it’s ‘gender blind’
+-hall et Al used this approach to explain moral panic over mugging
Hall et Al issue on race?
-claim ethnic minority are often stereotyped as more criminal than while people
-criminal justice system and police reinforce this stereotype
What did Hall et al argue in ‘policing the crisis’
-focus on street crime among black males in 1970s London
-the media portrayed a moral panic about a “mugging” craze among young black men
How does Moral panics perpetuate racial demonisation? (Hall et Al)
-the govt and media were accused of promoting racism to distract from political and economic problems
How is deviance used as a form of protest? (Hall et Al)
-young black men were using deviant acts as a way to protest the racism they faced
-led to them being labelled as criminals
Evaluations for Hall et Al
-viewed as contradictory
-holistic theory incorporates traditional ideas and labelling theory
-addresses issues of ethnicity and racism in discussions of crime and deviance
