Sociological theories of criminality MARXISM Flashcards
What is capitalism ?
An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
What is communism ?
A theory or system of social organization in which all property id owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.
What is Revolution ?
forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system.
What do the means of production refer to ?
The facilities and resources for producing goods.
What is relation of production ?
The social structures that regulate the relation between humans and in the production of good.
What is false class consciousness / alienation ?
The proletariat (working class) do not recognise that they are being exploited by the bourgeoisie (ruling class) and therefore contriubte to their own exploitation.
What is oppression exploitation ?
Being subject to unjust treatment.
Explain why Marxism only focusing on the influence of social class in criminality a weakness ?
Other traits are considered crucial in understanding why people commit crime, such as ethnicity, age, and gender.
Other theories claim is not likely to be influenced by just one trait. For example, someone who is working-class, and male is more likely to commit crime than someone who is working-class and female. It is therefore a limited explanation.
Explain why Marxism not explaining white collar crimes a weakness ?
Marxist assume working-class individuals are more likely to commit crime than other social classes, die to the frustrations of capitalism.
Not all working class people commit crimes for example white collar crime is committed by middle class individuals.
Explain how the Marxist explanation is reductionist ?
They reduce the complex phenomena of criminality down to just capitalism. It is therefore too simplistic of an explanation as it only focuses on one factor.
Explain how not all capitalist societies having a high crime rates are a weakness ?
For example, capitalist societies like Japan and Switzerland have lower crime rates than the USA. It therefore, cannot be true that capitalism is the only cause of crime, and this suggest that other factors in the UK must cause crime too.
