neo-marxism explanations of crime

Question 1

4 key areas

Answer 1

1. Similarities and differences to traditional marxism
2. Crime seen as an active reaction to capitalism - Robin Hood analogy
3. Role of the media
4. Fully social theory of crime and deviance (structure and action combined)

Question 2

similarities and differences to traditional marxism

Answer 2

similarities:

1. capitalism is based on exploitation and class conflict
2. The state makes the laws which benefit the interest of the ruling class, criminalising the working class
3. crime is rooted on the material basis of society.

Differences:

reject marxist idea of passivity and argue the w/c are voluntarists - free will.

w/c have a choice in how they react to working class inequality

Question 3

Crime seen as an active reaction to capitalism

Answer 3

Taylor - critical of traditional Marists theory - believe it is ‘economically deterministic’ (ignoring ethnicity , gender etc)

• individuals have the choice to break the law
• want a form of socialism with a greater freedom on how the future is to be organised , deviant groups should be accepted in society.
• Robin Hood analogy - w/c is politically motivated as a consequence of their negative experience of capitalism - w/c are taking from the rich and redistributing to the poor,
• Gilroy - young black criminals are motivated to commit crime due to their experiences of racism and police harassment.
• police target w/c areas creating laws that repress and control the ‘problem class’.

Question 4

Role of the media

Answer 4

Stuart Hall

media plays a big role in creating moral panic (w/c, ethnic mins etc all seen as potentially troublesome)

policing the crisis study -media presented ‘mugging’ in the 1970s in London as a ‘new’ crime where black criminals were robbing white w/c victims

media had an ideological function to divide B and W w/c, attention is diverted away from the mismanagement of capitalism

Question 5

Fully social theory of crime and deviance

Answer 5

Structure and action combined
Taylor, Walton and Young

1. Wider Origins of the deviant act
   - the radical criminologist needs to locate the crime within the social structure of capitalism, such as inequality of wealth and power
   - 1970s international downturn in capitalist economics
2. The immediate origins of the deviant act
   - need to look at the immediate social context in which an individual chooses to commit crime.
   - inner city riots e.g NI groups as scapegoats
3. The Actual act
   - what does the act mean to the individual e.g Robin Hood or politically motivated
   - mugging, according to police it is more likely to be carries out by black people.
4. The immediate origins of social reaction
   - need to look at the immediate response of other people such as family, friends etc (will lead them to the reaction of deviant or victims (i.e it wasn’t their fault)
   - media outrage of muggings linked to racism Among Met police
5. Wider Origins of Deviant Reaction
   -how does wider society react, particular attention on those in power e.g scapegoating African Caribbeans
6. outcomes of societal reaction on the deviant’s further action - consequences of a label being applied to a deviant
   e.g loss of trust in police by ethnic minority and lack of justice

Question 6

What are 3 evaluations of neo-marxism

Answer 6

Rock - not all crimes can be explained in this wider context - e.g traffic infringements

Bruke - too general and idealist, fail to understand the complex reasons behind crime (not just economic factors) e.g gender, ethnicity etc

failure to acknowledge that some laws do not directly serve the interest of the ruling class, but can actually benefit everyone.