Marxists and Neo marxists

Question 1

give two of marxists arguments on crime

Answer 1

• Capitalism is criminogenic = it is by nature capitalism causes crime
• The law reflects the values of the capitalist class = the law reflects the values and beliefs of capitalism

Question 2

Give two more marxists arguments

Answer 2

• The law has an ideological function = we are persuaded that capitalism and the law is working for the benefit of us all
• Selective law enforcement = there is one law for the rich and one for the poor (use of state crimes etc)

Question 3

Give two criticisms of Marxists

Answer 3

• too deterministic = they say that people are forced to commit crime
• They over emphasise property crime when there are others e.g. White collar crime, knife crime, green crime etc

Question 4

brief overview of the NEO MARXIST view on crime

Answer 4

They improve the Marxist approach because traditional Marxists are too deterministic and NM take a voluntaristic view that crime could be used as a ‘symbolic political act’

Question 5

What did Taylor et al propose and give three of the stages

Answer 5

They proposed the ‘ fully social theory of deviance’

1. Wider social origin = context of the crime
2. Immediate origins of the act = the specific situation
3. Actual act and what it means = Robin Hood act = shortcut for money

Question 6

give the other three

Answer 6

4. Immediate origins of societal reactions = how do family, friends and dat react
5. Wider origins of societal reactions = How does the wider society react
6. Outcomes of the societal reaction = will they commit he crime again?

Question 7

give two criticisms of Neo Marxists

Answer 7

• They ignore the victims of the crimes
• it is difficult to interpret that all laws reflect the wc e.g. traffic & consumer protection laws are in the interests of everybody