marxist and neo-marxist explanations

Question 1

what’s the similarities and differences between the marxist and functionalist explanation of crime?

Answer 1

both agree that structural factors cause deviance
but marxists argue this is due to conflict between social classes

Question 2

what are the three features of traditional marxist theories of crime?

Answer 2

-capitalist society is criminogenic
-the law reflects ruling-class interests and ideology
-selective law enforcement

Question 3

what is meant by ‘capitalist society is criminogenic’ as a marxist feature?

Answer 3

-criminogenic = crime is a natural outgrowth of capitalist society that emphasises greed and self-interest
-crime is a natural response to the competitiveness and inequality of society
-relative poverty = some struggle to survive so are excluded from consumer society, causing frustration at social exclusion
-gordon 1971 - its surprising the WC doesn’t commit MORE crime

Question 4

what is meant by ‘the law reflects ruling-class interests and ideology’ as a marxist feature?

Answer 4

-chambliss - laws are instruments of the ruling class, eg property laws, describes the wealthy elite as a ‘criminal syndicate’
-box - what is defined as serious crime is socially constructed eg the lack of emphasis on corporate crime
-schneider - states will only pass laws on health/pollution when there is public outcry, and will weaken them when possible, rarely enforcing them

Question 5

what is meant by ‘selective law enforcement’ as a marxist feature?

Answer 5

-Chambliss - there’s one law for the rich and one for the poor, where crime control is focused on the WC,
-Raiman - RC can commit crimes without facing investigation/legal classification of their acts as criminal
-Pearce - ‘the crimes of the powerful’ = the biggest crimes are committed by the ruling class, eg fraud, which are rarely prosecuted
-eg - 2007 corporate homicide law, designed to protect deaths caused by company negligence, only had one successful prosecution in the first 8 years
-gives the false impression that most crime is committed by the WC, diverting attention away from exploitation

Question 6

what was Chambliss’ work?

Answer 6

-1964
-studied 1349 vagrancy laws, keeping workers on a fixed low wage after the black death
-by 1530 highway robberies led to a law saying anyone on the road without a job could be punished (both examples of law serving ruling class)

Question 7

what did Gordon contribute to the marxist explanation?

Answer 7

-4 factors of capitalism that propel people towards criminality
-greed
-profit
-competition
-materialism and relative deprivation

Question 8

what is meant by greed?

Answer 8

-individuals are encouraged to desire more in a capitalist society
-can lead to criminal behaviour to fulfil their wants

Question 9

what is meant by profit?

Answer 9

-capitalist model is fundamentally based on profit making, can lead companies to engage in white-collar crimes
-eg controversial business practices by Amazon, overshadows ethical considerations

Question 10

what is meant by competition?

Answer 10

-people and companies are pitted against each other, creating an environment where success is measured by outperforming others
-leads to practices like insider trading in stock markets

Question 11

what is meant by materialism and relative deprivation?

Answer 11

-constant comparison to others (keeping up with the jones’) creates relative deprivation, which can lead to criminal behaviour to acquire goods they perceive as necessary for social status

Question 12

what are the similarities between marxist and neo-marxist explanations?

Answer 12

-capitalism based on exploitation and class conflict, understanding this will lead to understanding crime
-state regulates and enforces laws for the benefit of the ruling class
-capitalism should be replaced with a classless society where crime would be greatly reduced

Question 13

what is the difference between marxist and neo-marxist explanations?

Answer 13

neo-marxists argue marxist explanation is too deterministic, suggesting people are driven to crime because of forces out of their control
-argues crime is voluntarist

Question 14

4 ways crime is voluntarist?

Answer 14

-criminals make the conscious choice to commit crime (meaningful action)
-political motives behind crime, readdressing inequalities
-criminals aren’t passive puppets of capitalism
-free will

Question 15

how do neo-marxists explain crime and deviance?

Answer 15

people choose to commit crimes, as they are a symbolic and political act of resistance to ruling class oppression
-gilroy 1982 - discussed black crime in the 70s, where black crime was a form of resistance to ruling-class oppression in the form of police racism and harassment

Question 16

what is the ‘new criminology’?

Answer 16

-developed by Taylor et al, accepted many features of the traditional marxist approach, but said that to full understand all aspects of crime and deviance, it was necessary to draw on both structural and interactionist approaches
-sought to develop ‘a fully social theory of deviance’ blending the labelling theory and marxist approach (has 6 dimensions)

Question 17

what is the fully social theory of crime and deviance?

Answer 17

a comprehensive understanding of crime and deviance for the betterment of society

Question 18

what are the six dimensions of ‘a fully social theory of deviance’?

Answer 18

-the wider social origins of the deviant act
-the immediate origins of the deviant act
-the actual act and what it means to be deviant
-the immediate origins of social reaction
-the wider origins of societal reaction
-the outcomes of societal reaction on the deviant’s further action

Question 19

relate the 6 dimensions to Hall 1978’s ‘policing the crisis’

Answer 19

-wider social origins = the 1970’s was a time of social crisis
-immediate origins = inner city riots, conflict in NI, strikes
-act itself = mugging (police said it was more likely to be done by afro-caribbeans)
-immediate origins reaction = media outrage, racisms in the MET police
-wider origins reaction = need to find a scapegoat, blame afro-caribbeans
-effect of labelling = injustice among EM, loss of confidence in justice system

Question 20

how did Hall et al apply the new criminology?

Answer 20

-in their study of black crime, suggested it was used to reassert the dominance of ruling-class hegemony when it was under threat due to an economic and political crisis. to reassert dominance, the ruling class exaggerated black crime mugging, which created moral panic, taking attention away from their weakness at the time

Question 21

what are some criticisms of the marxist approach?

Answer 21

-ignores other causes of crime eg gender and ethnicity
-passive working class / romanticizing criminals, suggesting they aren’t to blame because crime is society’s fault
-if crime was a symptom of capitalism only then communist states would be crime free, ot the face in soviet russia
-ignores victims (if marxism was correct victims would be RC but it’s mostly WC)
-law makers are democratically elected

Question 22

evaluate the neo-marxist explanation

Answer 22

-rock 1988 - romanticizes criminals as robin hood figures, left realism points out most crime is by WC against WC
-hirst 1975 - its strayed too far from traditional marxism to be linked
-gender blind theory - applies explanations to women despite clear differences
-not all crime is politically motivated eg rape, right realists argue crime is opportunistic
-theory is over idealistic, hard to apply to real life

Question 23

what was Mike Brake’s work?

Answer 23

-1985
-said resistance of WC youth is best understood as a ‘magical’ response (lighting up a dull adult world)
-all WC youth face exploitation of capitalism, poor education, and dead-end jobs, and will all eventually become trapped by capitalist ideological messages (mortgage, debts, credit etc)

Question 24

what was Hall et al’s work on ‘resistance through rituals’?

Answer 24

-WC youth are the furthest removed from capitalist ideological messages and financial pressures, so are in a strong position to resist the controlling mechanisms of capitalism and develop deviant youth styles eg skinheads, punks etc
note = also said ‘the present conditions that make the poor poor (or the criminal turn to crime) are precisely the same conditions which make the rich rich)