Marxism, class and crime Flashcards
Intro- Marxists and labelling theory
What they agree on and criticise about them
agree: law is disproportionately enforced against w/c- so OS cannot be taken at face value
criticise: fails to examine the wider structure of cap whithin which law making/enforcement and offending takes place
Intro- Marxist view on society
views on crime and deviance flow from this
society—> 2 classes:
Bourgeoisie (m/c- owns MOP)
Proletariat (w/c- exploited/alienated for profit)
its a SST:
economic base (cap economy)—-> superstructure—> social institutions (e.g., criminal justice system- function? serve ruling-class interest and maintain cap economy)
3 main elements of their view on crime
Criminogenic capitalism
Crime= innevitable, why? capitalism= criminogenic (by its nature causes crime):
* capitalism is based on exploiting the w/c (to make profit) regardless of human cost- so it is damaging and gives rise to crime, how?
1. poverty means crime is the only chance of survival
2. crime is the only way to obtain consumer goods that capitalists enourage via advertising (result? utilitarian crimes, e.g., theft)
3. alienation and a lack of control over lives leads to frustration/agression (result? non-utilitarian crimes, e.g., violence/vandalism)
* capitalism is a ‘dog eat dog’ system of rutheless competition amongst capitalists- profit encourages a mentality of greed- so crime is not confined to w/c
* self-enrichment and staying in business encourages capitalists to commit white-collar/corporate crimes (e.g., tax evasion/breaches of health and safety laws)
* Gordon- crime is a rational response to capitalist system, so is found in all social classes (despite OS making it appear as a w/c phenomenon)
3 main elements of their view on crime
The state and law making
Law making/enforcment serves capitalist’s interest, e.g., Chambliss- laws to protect private property are the foundation of capitalist economy:
* introduction of English law into Britain’s East African colonies- Britains interests lay in the colonies plantation- which required plentiful supply of local labour
* there was no money economy, so to force reluctant African population to work for them- they introduced a tax payable in cash, with non-payment= criminal offence
* tax- payable by cash- earned through working on plantation- served economic interest of capitalist plantation owners
They also have the power to prevent the introduction of laws threatening their interests:
* few laws challenging distribution of wealth
* Snider- capitalists state is reluctant to pass laws regulating activities of businesses/threatening profitablity
The state and law making: selective enforcement
Although all classes commit crime- the application of law by the criminal justice system involves selective enforcement:
* powerless groups such as w/c and ethnic minorities- criminalised, yet police tend to ignore crimes of powerful
3 main elements of their view on crime
Ideological functions of crime and law
Laws/crime/criminals= perform ideological function for capitalism- laws usually passed appearing to benefit w/c (e.g., health and safety laws):
* Pearce- but such laws benefit ruling-class too, e.g., by keeping workers fit for work- gives capitalism a ‘caring face’ and created a false consciousness
* these laws are not rigorously enforced- e.g., law against corporate homicide passed in 2007, in its first 8 years, had only one successful prosecution- despite Jenabi’s findings of large numbers of deaths at work estimated to be cause by employer negligence
* state enforces law selectively- crime appears to be a w/c phenomenon, dividing w/c; encourages them to blame criminals, not capitalists
* media portrays criminals as ‘disturbed individuals’- conceals fact that the nature of capitalism makes people criminals
AO3 of Marxism
Support: offers useful explanation on relationship between crime and capitalist society- puts into a wider structural context the insights of labelling theory regarding selective enforcement
Criticisms:
1. ignores relationship between non-class inequalities (e.g., ethnicity/gender)
2. too deterministic/over-predicts amount of crime in w/c- despite pressure of poverty, not all poor people commit crime
3. not all capitalist societies have high crime rate (e.g., homicide rates in Japan and Switzerland is only a fifth of that in the U.S (but societies like this with little/no welfare provision have higher crime rate)
4. LR- ignores intra-class crimes; causes great harm to victims
5. CJS does sometimes act against capitalist class’s interest (but this is to make it seem impartial)
