marxists on crime Flashcards
reiman
-‘the rich get richer and the poor get prison’, criminal law works to benefit rich
-social injustice is the underlying cause of crime, not individual motivations
Snider
-laws in capitalist countries that threaten interests of large corporations are rarely passed, state tries to attract investment from businesses. Thus are reluctant to enforce laws that regulate pollution, worker’s pay, health or min wages
-corporate crime does more harm than street crime
2008 banking crisis
-caused by activities of several big banks, often with debatable legality. Govts spent millions trying to bail banks out
Sayer
rich shape the law so are unlikely to be imprisoned e.g. ensure govt doesn’t close loopholes that allow the rich to avoid tax
Tax Justice network & benefits
-loss of $250 bill in tax revenues to govt annually due to $21-32 mill being kept in tax havens
-jones: tax avoidance costs UK govt 20x more than benefits fraud
Ruling class ideology
-The CJS is an ideological agent that produces rc ideology
-emphasises ‘benefit scroungers’ to general public to distract from corporate crime, distorted view on reality
-the public are encouraged to believe that welfare is overgenerous and poorly enforced
-YouGov poll= ppl thought that 27% of social security was fraudulently claimed, ac only 0.7%
Marxists on law enforcement
-seems to be one rule for the rich and another for the poor & enforcement is biased in favour of the powerful
-but recognise that it has the potential to help society
corporate crime
-BP= 4 bill barrels,11 ppl died, £40 bill in fines#
-Grunethal drug= given to preg women for sickness, 10k infants w/ deformed limbs. No individual prosecuted
-Rana Plaza= unsound structural building in bangladesh collapsed it housed factories e.g. Primark, 1,129 deaths
-financial corporate crimes have rarely ended in prosecutions, only the repayment of money
-Snider= corporate crime does more harm than street crimes
white collar crime
-crimes committed by professionals during their job which benefits them rather than the company e.g. fraud, overcharging, bribery
-hard to detect bc its complex and bribery etc benefits both parties so unlikely to be reported
-MP expense scandal= claiming excessive amounts of parliamentary expenses. only 4 were imprisoned
Marxists view on white collar crimes
-may not be members of the rc but work for them/ carry out functions for capitalists
-therefore treatment of them is evidence of class bias in CJS
Chambliss
-capitalism is based upon competition, greed, selfishness and this forms ppls attitudes to life
-crime is a normal outcome of this which stresses the importance of oneself at the expense of others
-pressure on the poor is strong to commit crime due to income
Gordon
-capitalism is criminogenic (inherently likely to produce crime bc it produces competitive dog-eat-dog society
-everyone must fend for themselves
-inadequate welfare provision makes crime necessary for survival
-ETV= difficult to apply to non-material crimes
Reiman (crime and control))
-all crime should be explained in terms of social conditions, not individual motivations. Social inequality is the underlying cause of all types of crime
crime and control
-crime is portrayed as the result of individual moral failing, rather than social injustice
-largely carried out by poor & poverty seen as result of moral imperfections e.g. lazy
-suggests poor deserve to be poor since crime is seen as a response to poverty, so crime comes from the individual
-society supports strong control on the poor, rather than changes in an unjust society
-victims of capitalism are blamed, not the system itself
Strengths of marxism
-recognise role of capitalism & influence on the nature of crime
-gives broad explanation as considers criminalisation and social structure
