Neo-Marxism/ Critical Criminology/ Radical Criminology Flashcards
What two most prominent sociological theories did Taylor, Walton and Young fuse in their ‘fully’ social theory of deviance?
- Marxism
- Interactionism
What are the Marxist aspects of the model?
- the wider origins of the act (ie. wider social system, assessing way wealth and power is distributed)
- the wider origins of the deviant reaction (ie. the immediate reaction located within the wider social system)
What are the Interactionist aspects of the model?
- immediate origins of the act (ie. particular social circumstances within which individuals choose to commit crime)
- the actual act (ie. meaning and significance for the person)
- the immediate origins of the social reaction (ie. immediate reaction within wider social system)
- the outcomes of the social reaction (effects of labelling)
What seventh aspect of the model is there?
- nature of deviant process as whole
Within Hall et al’s study ‘Policing the Crisis’ what did they attempt to do?
- develop a ‘fully’ social theory of mugging
- study of moral panic of mugging
- origins and nature
- social reaction
- distribution of power in society
How do Hall et al depart company from other Marxists?
- rejecting the idea that crimes are political acts due to a large amount of victims of street crime being from a similarly disadvantaged background
Outline the narrative of what happened with the moral panic of mugging
- 1970s
- papers filled with dramatic stories of mugging
- report that 129% increase in muggings over previous few years
- calls for tough crackdown
- most papers implied muggers were predominantly young black males
Why did Hall et al reject the view that the moral panic was an inevitable and understandable reaction?
- mugging was not a new phenomenon
- it was not on the increase - 129% added together various street crimes
What explanation did Hall et al provide for the origin of the moral panic?
- problems faced by British capitalism (ie. economic crisis, crisis of hegemony)
- ideological control over sections of society seemed to be weakening
- government turned to force
- mugging presented as key element in breakdown in law and order
- violence portrayed as threat to society
- black mugger symbolised this threat
- problems deflected from capitalism
What were the results of the moral panic?
- greatly increased police force in inner cities (operating forcibly against young black males)
- police amplified/ made worse the deviance they were supposed to be controlling
- social reaction led to labelling of large numbers of young black males
- in turn justified strong police measures
What are the key ideas of Taylor et al?
- capitalism is based on exploitation and extreme inequalities
- states makes/ enforces laws in interests of capitalist class and criminalises members of wc
- we should have a classless society
How and why do they critique Marxism?
- see Marxism as economically deterministic
- don’t accept that there’s a simple and straightforward relationship between infrastructure and crime
What do neo-Marxists try to analyse?
- social and economic forces that compel people into crime, with a study of the individual motives too
(Although some don’t) Many emphasise crime is politically motivated. How do they explain this?
- see lot of wc criminals as ‘modern-day Robin Hoods’ who steal from rich to give to poor
- vandalism - sign of marking possession, symbolic for marking territory for those without property
What does Taylor et al believe about criminals?
- they are not passive puppets, they are deliberately striving to change society
Gilroy and the myth of black criminality
Though, in reality, black groups are no more criminal than any other, why have they been labelled this way?
- myth created by racist stereotypes
Gilroy and the myth of black criminality
Why do black groups appear in greater numbers in the OS?
- police and CJS act on those racist stereotypes
- ethnic minorities have been criminalised
Gilroy and the myth of black criminality
How is ethnic minority crime viewed as a form of political resistance?
- resistance is rooted in earlier struggles of British imperialism
Gilroy and the myth of black criminality
How has the anti-colonial struggle been passed on? How is oppression resisted?
- immigrant family members taught them how to resist oppression
- ie. riots/ demonstrations, carried out due to little cost, part of cultural tradition
What criticisms of Gilroy’s myth of black criminality are made by Lea and Young?
- first generation immigrants were very law-abiding - unlikely to have passed down tradition of anti-colonial struggle
- most crime is intra-ethnic so can’t be seen as anti-colonial struggle
- romanticises street crime was something revolutionary and it’s not
- Asian crime rates are lower/ the same as whites - would suggest that the police are selectively racist
