The new criminology / Neo-Marist Flashcards
Which sociologists do we look at?
Taylor
Hall
Gilroy
When did this theory develop and where?
A new or contemporary Marxist approach to crime and deviance was developed in The New Criminology (a book by Taylor et al) in 1973.
Describe Taylor et al’s book ‘The New Criminology’
It has 7 complex and abstract elements which means criminologists need to look in detail at every aspect of crime.
What elements would this include?
Looking in detail at every aspect of crime:
- local area they lived in
- wider social area
- role of the police, mass media
- capitalism (scapegoat?)
- the reasons behind each act
What does the last chapter of the book put forward?
To explain any crime, you need ‘a fully social theory of crime and deviance’
What study did Taylor’s book inspire?
“Policing the crisis” - Hall et al
which attempted to use its theoretical ideas to examine a real crime : mugging.
What does Hall talk about?
The Policing of Crisis
Describe what Policing the Crisis does
Examines the moral panic that developed over the crime of mugging in the 1970s.
Summarise Policing the Crisis
[part the media played]
Newspaper reports claimed there was an increase in mugging and street crime by young Afro-Caribbean men but Hall found it was actually growing more slowly than the previous decade.
How did Policing the Crisis put Taylor’s fully social theory into practice?
Hall used Taylor’s theory and looked at what was going on in British capitalism and politics at the time. Hall argues that moral panic developed because capitalism was in crisis . There was an economic crisis linked to unemployment and strikes. The British public were losing faith in the government and authorities. The moral panic meant the authorities could scapegoat the black muggers to distract attention from the real problems.
Give a quick summary of the Policing of Crisis
- The study of a single crime, muggingf which is particularly committed by young black men.
- Moral panic was created because of the crisis of capitalism and newspapers wrote about mugging to get money.
- Young black men were a scapegoat for the real problems of capitalism e.g. high unemployment rates.
What does Gilroy write about?
The myth of black criminality
What does Gilroy argue?
Afro-Caribbean men are no more criminal than whites, but they are labelled by the police and courts and treated unfairly / policed more harshly.
Even when young black men do commit crimes, it is seen as a political act of fighting back against racism.
How can new criminology be criticised?
Both Hall + Gilroy contradict themselves, EITHER:
- young black men are no more criminal than white men, but are victims of labelling by a racist society
OR
- the black crime rate was bound to rise because of unemployment. If the black crime rate did rise, then it clearly wasn’t a moral panic but a real event.
