Marxist view of Crime and Deviance

Question 1

What are the three main elements of the marxist view on crime and deviance

Answer 1

• Criminogenic capitalism
• The state and law making
• Ideological functions of crime and law

Question 2

why is crime inevitable in capitalism for marxists

Answer 2

Capitalism is criminogenic - by its very nature causes crime

Question 3

why does capitalism give rise to crime :

Answer 3

• poverty may mean that crime is the only way the working class can survive
• Crime may be the only way they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalists advertising , resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft
• Alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression , resulting in non - utilitarian crimes such as violence and vandalism

Question 4

what does David Gordon (1976) state :

Answer 4

Crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and hence it is found in all social classes - even though the official statistics make it appear to be largely working class phenomenon

Question 5

What does William Chambliss (1975) argue

Answer 5

Laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy.
- illustrated this with the case of the introduction of English law into Britain’s East African colonies
-To force reluctant African population to work for them , British introduced a tax payable in cash , non payment which was a punishable criminal offence . Since cash to pay the tax could only be earned by working on the plantations , the law served the economic interests of the capitalist plantation owners .

Question 6

What does Laureen Sniders (1993)

Answer 6

Argues that the capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability

Question 7

what does Frank Pearce (1976) argues

Answer 7

Such laws often benefit the ruling class too - e.g.
by keeping workers fit for work . By giving capitalism a caring face , such laws also create false consciousness among the workers .
- In any case such laws are not rigorously enforced
-e.g. despite a new law against corporate homicide being passed in 2007 , in its first eight years there was only one successful prosecution of a UK company - despite the large numbers of deaths at work estimated to be caused by employers negligence

Question 8

what are evaluation of marxists

Answer 8

• largely ignored the relationship between crime and non class inequalities such as ethnicity and gender
• Too deterministic and over predicts the amount of
  crime in the working class - not all poor people commit crime , despite the pressures of poverty
• Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
• The criminal justice system does sometimes act against the interest of the capitalist class for example prosecutions for corporate crimes do occur
• Left realists argue that marxism ignores intra class crimes ( where both criminals and victims are working class ) such as burglary which causes great harm to victims

Question 9

what are the two main sources of the fully social theory of deviance by critical criminologists Taylor , Walton and Young

Answer 9

• marxists ideas about the unequal distribution of wealth and who has the power to make and enforce the law
• ideas from interactionism and labelling theory about the meaning of the deviant act for the actor , societal reactions to it and the effects of the deviant label on the individual

Question 10

what is the critical criminology’s complete theory of deviance ( 6 aspects )

Answer 10

1) the wider origins of the deviant act
2) the immediate origins of the deviant act
3) the act itself
4) the immediate origins of the social reaction
5) the wider origins of the social reactions
6) the effects of labelling

Question 11

what do taylor , walton and young ( critical criminologist) say about marxism being too deterministic

Answer 11

• they take a voluntaristic view
• crime is a choice and often has a political motive