SOC - Marxism And Crime

Question 1

David Gordon

Answer 1

Capitalist societies are ‘dog eat dog societies’ in which each individual company and each individual is encouraged to look out for their own interests before the interests of others, before the interests of the community, and before the protection of the environment.

Question 2

What classes commit what crime?

Answer 2

MC- WCC out of greed

WC- Street crime out of survival or protest of inequality

Question 3

Gordon Evaluation

Answer 3

Deterministic

Capitalist societies, like Sweden and Japan, have low crime rates

Question 4

Chambliss

Answer 4

Laws enacted by the wealthy for the benefit of the wealthy.
EGproperty laws. Capitalism prioritises the rights of property owners over the rights of the mass of people.There are more unoccupied properties in the UK than there are homeless individuals.

Question 5

Chambliss Evaluation

Answer 5

Surely health and safety laws undermine this, as they are created with workers in mind

Question 6

Pearce

Answer 6

Laws perform an ideological function for capitalism
Laws passed to ‘ help the workers’ secretly help the business owners. H&S laws prevent companies being sued more than protecting workers. Laws to protect workers are rarely enforced so are there to disguise how corrupt law making is as a process

Question 7

Pearce Eval

Answer 7

comes across as a conspiracy suggesting the law-making process is corrupt, although we have democratic powers such as voting

Question 8

Althusser crime

Answer 8

Media performs an ideological function for capitalism.
Media portrays criminals as mentally disturbed individuals with anti-social personalities.
This way we blame the individual for crime and do not challenge capitalism as the cause.

Question 9

Althusser Eval

Answer 9

extreme and politically radical, assuming that agents of SC are attempting to brainwash us is a conspiracy

Question 10

Neo Marxism

Answer 10

• Accused traditional Marxists of being too deterministic
• Not all groups offend so it must be a CHOICE!
• Combines trad. marx with labelling theory

Question 11

Hall et al

Answer 11

Scapegoating.
In the 1970s when capitalism was in crisis, the public were beginning to doubt how successful capitalism could be.
As a result, the state encouraged a moral panic about the social problems created by black muggers. This way the public scapegoated them rather than the state.

Question 12

Hall et al Eval

Answer 12

contradicts himself – On one hand he claims that black crime is exaggerated; on the other he states that crime is bound to rise because of factors such as unemployment. If crime rates do rise, then it isn’t a moral panic but a real event.
The association between criminality and black youth has continued since the economic crisis of the 1970s, so it’s not clear that this is the ultimate cause of the ‘moral panic’.

Question 13

Phil Cohen

Answer 13

Skinheads as a resistance.
The skinheads faced poor job prospects and became violent towards ethnic minorities. They were territorial and the crimes they committed were a voluntary decision to fight capitalist inequalities.

Question 14

Taylor, Walton & Young

Answer 14

• Agree with trad marx, cap is problematic
• Explain WC crime using labelling theory and believes crime is volurutistic and not deterministic, involving a pol decision.

Question 15

TWY eval

Answer 15

Romanticises criminals as modern day robin hoods, vigilanties who are fighting crime as an act of political protest whilst also helping those within their own communities. The reality is that criminals regardless of class cause harm to others and usually steal food intra(within their own)class