Marxism - Crime Flashcards
What is criminal motivation?
Inequalities in wealth and poverty motivate some to commit crime
What is selective law creation and enforcement?
laws are created by the ruling class in their interests; the criminal justice system is used to protect the power and wealth of the ruling class and control the working class
What is ruling class crime?
white collar, corporate and state crimes are extensive but remain hidden and unpunished
What are 3 ways that Capitalism can cause crime?
1) W/C may commit crime due to being in poverty, stealing only way to survive
2) Chambliss argues that capitalism encourages consumer greed and produces relative deprivation, so crime may be the only way to satisfy this greed
3) Alienation at work may lead to frustration and aggression leading to crime
What does Gordon argue?
That crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and is therefore found in all social classes, even though statistics make it appear that most crime is committed by W/C
What are two reasons for crime statistics showing W/C commit the most crime?
1) W/C crime more easy to record
2) Statistics produced by M/C so don’t want to make themselves look bad
How does Chambliss suggest law and law enforcement reflects dominate ideology?
E.g. laws protecting private property
Police and courts tend to ignore the crimes of the powerful.
What does Pearce argue about health and safety laws?
- They appear to protect the workers but they actually benefit the capitalists through preventing them being sued and allowing them to pay less sick pay due to workers spending more time at work
- Preforms an ideological function by making workers believe the capitalists care about them - false consciousness
What is an example that supports Pearce’s argument?
The Bhopal disaster
What does Snider suggest?
The capitalists are reluctant to pass any law that might regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability
What is corporate crime?
Criminal offences committed by large scale companies that directly profit the company rather than the individual
How much does street crime cost the US government compared to corporate crime?
Street crime = 4 billion
Corporate crime = 20x this
What does Chambliss suggests about how crime is defined?
Some situations may be defined as criminal if the ruling class did not control beliefs about what should be criminal.
How does crime provided an ideological function?
- People who commit crime deemed ‘social failures’
- By imprisoning large numbers of w/c the r/c are eliminating opposition to inequality
What are 4 negative evaluation points of Marxism?
1) Do not explain intra-class crime - w/c against w/c
2) Not all working class people commit crime (80% of the population do not)
3) Japan and Switzerland have capitalists economies but very low rates of crime
4) After MP expenses scandal uncovered a policy was created to prevent it happening - those involved arrested.
