Marxist and Neo-Marxist

Question 1

marxist - what is the driving force between crime?

Answer 1

social inequality

social structures mould peoples behaviours

Question 2

marxist - criminogenic

Answer 2

capitalist society is likely to cause criminal behaviour

crime is a rational response to the inequality of life due to poverty & social exclusion

Question 3

marxist - definition of crime is constructed

Answer 3

defined as offences committed by the working-class rather than major harm caused by corporations 
law reflects values & beliefs of ruling-class ideology
workforce protects ruling-class interest & criminalises those that go against it

Question 4

marxist - selective law enforcement

Answer 4

working-class more likely to be prosecuted for crime compared to higher social class 
get treated more leniently, diverting working-class way from their exploitation
creates false impression that crime is a working-class phenomena

Question 5

neo-marxist

Answer 5

crime is a voluntary act, people facing same circumstances don't commit crime
working-class commit crime symbolically as a political act riot from ruling-class oppression

Question 6

marxist & neo-marxist - criticisms

Answer 6

• doesn’t explain non-property offences that don’t have political motivation/meaning
• over-emphasises link between class inequality & crime (ethnicity, gender)
• feminists; malestream theories
• deterministic; most working-class don’t commit crime, shows they’re not forced
• left realists; crime committed by working-class criminals usually against working-class people