theories of crime and deviance 2/2 Flashcards
how would functionalists explain the differences in crime?
crime is a result from not being commited to shared values.
official statistics from a number of country’s show the working class are more likely to commit crime than higher classes.
Marxism and crime
Marxists see all of societies institutions for example, families, school,
education religion and the government as helping to maintain class inequalities. crime also helps maintain class inequalities.
-Marxists agree with label lists theorist and they believe that the working class is targeted therefor statistics are incorrect.
-Marxists also believe capitalists societies encourage crime.
criminogenic crime
- due to capatalism exploiting the wc it causes blue colar crime
-poverty-only way to survive
- advertisements of products leads to crime
- people think they need to have it leads to crime
- alienation - people act out - vandalism
utilitarian crime
- it is not just the WC that commit crimes
- Capatalism is a - dog eat dog- system - ruthless competition and greed amongsts capatalists.
- capatalist need to win at all costs bor they go mout of buissness. Which leads to crime like tax envasion, breaches of health and safety laws
-Gordon - argues, crime is a rational response to the capatlist system. hence it is found amongst all social classes - even though the official statistics appear to be a WC problem.
how does capattalism cause non- utilitarian crimes
- acting out - vandaism
- causes wc fustration
Hoe does crime maintain inequality
selective law making
selective law enforcement
selective law making
- unlike functionalists who see law as reflecting the vlue consensus and representing the interests in society.
-Marxists see law making and law enforcements as serving capatalist clas
Box - argues the rich often engage in activities which lead to death, theft, injury ,fraud but they are protected undeer the health and safety laws.
Snider - argues government are reluctant to pass llaws which dont benefit them
- they also dont offer laws to help out wc
- they offer laws so they can take advantage of wc
chambliss - argues there is more laws on protecting prpoerty then there is people.
how did the introduction of english law into britians east Africans coloniesw benefited capatalism
- Peopel where forced to work - meaning more money was made
how laws benefit ruling class whilst disadvantaging the wc
health and safety - box
working class gave less money to live on
selective law
-enforcment
official stastics give the impression that the working class commit more crime however marxists argues that this is not true and it is aresult of selectiven law enforemnet.
Chambliss - there is one law for the rich and one law for for the poor. crime control is focused on the working class who are most ikely to be prosecutes.
- pearce - argues that the biggest crime of all time is thoose commited by mteh rulling class which he calls the crimes of the powerful yet they rarely get prosecuted.
ideological functions of crime
- how does crime prevent revolution
laws that beenfit the working class
- even laws that r seen to benefit the working class do not, they actually benefit capatalism - it keeps the workers fit for work and ensures profits can be made - employees will send ypy home if you are not fit to work and replace you so they can still make profit.
pearce argues this makes it seem like the capaalists care however it causes false consicoussness amongst workiers,
jenabi -arguies that even these protection laws are not strictly enforced. for example nn 207 a new corporate law against homicide passed but despit eteh amount of incidents only one company has been sucessfully prosecuted.
media depiction of criminals
box - what is presented by media is benefiting higher class. media manipulates watchers that wc are more likely to commit awful crime.
- as the state, enforces law selectively crime comes to be constructed as a wc problem. this the causes a divison between the wc by encouraging workers to blame the criminals rather than caatalism. - maintainig false consciousness.
evaluation of Marxists
strength
- Marxist theory provides a useful explanation of the relationship between crime and capitalist society. it shows links between law making and enforcement. it shows us the interest of the capitalist class.
it looks at thing from a wide perspective - macro approach into the insights of the labelling theory regarding the selective enforcement of the law.
weaknesses
- very deterministsic - not all wokring class commit crime.
- switxerland and japan are capatlaists but have low crime rates.
- prosecution agaisnts the ruling class and companies od happen - althout marxists would emcounter this by saying they do this occasionlally to maintain false class consciousnes.
- it is difficult to interpret all laws as reflecting the ruiling class as reflecting ruling class interests, there are many laws that are in everyones interests. i.e - treffic laws. consumer protection laws.
- marxists over emphasise class inequalities and ignore other iniqualities- gender, ethnicity
- pay little attention to victims of crime.
similarities
neo - marxism - understand how marxism is in a modern, complex society
how neo-marxism expands on traditional marxism
- traditional marxism is to deterministic seeing peole as passive products of a social system - neo marxism emphasizes human agency( us as humans can make active options on what we
- neo marxits argue that reveloution may not soley happen through class stugle bu through changiing culture and ideological conditions - reveloution will happen.
