Marxist theory

Question 1

Define Bourgeoisie

Answer 1

the ruling class of urban society

Question 2

Define Proletariat

Answer 2

those who provide the labour necessary to operate factories etc

Question 3

Define Capitalist society

Answer 3

Society characterised by private ownership of business and property

Question 4

Define Communism

Answer 4

an economic system without private business and property

Question 5

What do traditional marxists argue

Answer 5

Crime is a product of poverty
Crime is brought about by capitalism – living in a capitalist society

Marxists recognise social order is necessary but the bourgeoise gains, they agree with functionalists that socialisation plays a crucial role in promoting conformity and order

Question 6

Norms and values that benefit bourgeoise in capitalist society

Answer 6

Competition
Consumerism
Individualism
Greed

Taught by institutions and through the superstructure, Marxist refer to such norms and values as capitalist ideology

Question 7

Neocleous

Answer 7

• Argues police are a tool for capitalism since they were established and created social order by criminalising the traditional customs of the working class
• Therefore, the concept of the law = an acceptance of the capitalist mode of thinking

Question 8

Chambliss Seattle study - middle/ruling class crime

Answer 8

• interviews with all members of social strata (police to legal officials to prostitutes)
• money and power that determines who gets arrested/who doesn’t
• Crime syndicate (consisted of businessmen and politicians etc.) responsible for pornography, prostitution and illegal gambling
• Profits = boosted through tax evasion

Chambliss concluded those operating organised crime are not members of a ‘criminal class’ but the ruling elite
Who exploit their wealth/power (e.g. bribing policemen) to serve their interests

Question 9

Slapper and Tombs - White collar crime

Answer 9

• corporate crime should be defined as law breaking

- WCC can be defined as crimes committed by anyone in a middle-class occupation (doctors, lawyers, accountants)

Question 10

Merton

Answer 10

capitalism is ultimately the best economic system, Traditional Marxists the problem is capitalism, and it needs to be replaced with communism – crime would cease to exist

Question 11

Chambliss

Answer 11

(an interactionist/saints and roughnecks) stated that capitalism is criminogenic which means causing or promoting crime

Question 12

Gordon argues that capitalism causes

Answer 12

class inequalities in wealth, income, unemployment, poverty and homelessness

Question 13

The most common person who could commit a crime based on official statistics is going to be w/c is because

Answer 13

Poverty – they need the money – relative deprivation
Being treated as a burden
Media will target w/c people – moral panic policing the crisis – Stuart Hall – Divert attention away from capitalism failing

Question 14

Bonger

Answer 14

• believed in a casual link between crime and economic social conditions
• capitalism is based upon competition, selfishness and greed – forming people’s attitudes
  Poor people driven to crime - desperate conditions, poverty coupled with Indivualism, materialism, false needs, racism and the false masculinity and violence and domination amongst street thugs

Not all working-class people on poverty end up committing crime

Question 15

Gordon

Answer 15

crimes are likely to be enforced more rigorously than others, street crimes are more likely to be perused by police than white collar (fraud/cooperate crimes). M/C crimes are rarely drawn to police, certain social groups getting selective law enforcement e.g. people from council estates like Mosside will have more police patrolling than Hale

Question 16

Pearce

Answer 16

Argues many laws appear to benefit only the working class benefit the ruling class, using the example of factory legislation

Health and safety legislation really benefit the bourgeoise as you can no longer sue a company

Question 17

Snider

Answer 17

big corporations benefit from the legal system
Capitalist sate is often reluctant to pass laws that threaten the profitability of large business, does not want to risk upsetting large corporations , she notes that capitalist states often use vast sums to attract investment from developed countries and corporations

100,000 deaths due to industrial causes vs
20,00 people murdered per year in the USA
5x more deaths occur from corporate origins

Question 18

Strengths of Marxism

Answer 18

✓ Questions the validity of crime stats

✓ Aims to expose those in power and change the system

✓ There is some clear evidence in favour of Marxist view, unemployment and crime are linked statistically

Question 19

Weaknesses of Marxism

Answer 19

X Outdated, doesn’t consider rise of middle class
X Victims of crime ignored - (important because the victims are usually w/c) What about crimes like rape? These have little to do with capitalism
X Feminists argue patriarchy is ignored.
X Issues of racism are ignored.
X Crime has not been eradicated in communist countries.
X Not all capitalist countries have high rates of crime e.g. Switzerland embraced capitalism but has a very low crime rate
X Left realists – too much emphasis on corporate crime – other crimes cause greater harm.