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.
similarities
how is neo marxism similar to marxism
- capatalism the root cause of criminal bheaviour
Capitalism is the root cause of criminal behaviour as they exploit the wc. By understanding this we can understand criminal behaviour.
similarities
state creates sand enforces law tht benefit the ruiling class.
- health and safety ruels
- sendimg people hoe if they ae unfit to work
- reluctant to ass laws which beneit wc
- more laws on protecting property then people.
similarities
removal of capitalism would drastically reduce crime
- although both agree that the removal of capitalism would reduce crime they disagree on how much Marxists blame the ruling class they blame the rullig clas but not as much.
differences to marxisms
crime is voluntarist and crminals are not passive puppets
- crimanals make a conscious choice to commit, rather then blaming everythin on capatalism.
differenes
- crime is politically motivated
Neo Marxists see utilitarian crime as a political act. See crime as a way of redressing inequalities. Example black crime in the 1970s in which he saw black crime as a form of resistance to racism and police. Harshness.
New criminology - Taylor et al.
Taylor et al. argue that marxists is deterministic, as they see workers as driven to commit crime. out of economic/financial needs. they reject this view. along with theories that claim crime is cased by other externam factor. for example anmie, subcultures or by biological orpsuchological factors.
what is a key aspect ab neo marxism
Emphasise that crime is voluntary and conscious choice by the individual. Whilst Marxists claim people commit crime because of forces outside of their control
-crime often has a political motive - redistributing wealth from rich to poor.
-crimals are not passive puppets, their actions are deliberate choice striving for change.
Fully social theory of deviance
Understand why people commit crime.
Need to look at six different aspects of the crime.
1. The Structural origins of crime.
2. The immediate cause of the act.
3. The act itself and meaning behind it.
4. The immediate social reaction to the act
5. The wider origins of the social reaction.
6. The outcome of the social reaction.
1.This structural origins of the crime
Structures in society that might cause inequalities
Capaitlaism cause poverty which causes inequality
Economic recession/ crisis of hegemony
2.The immediate cause of the act
At that point in time what made them commit crime.
High unemployment particularly among black men.
- The act itself and meaning behind it
Believe every act f crime committed has some reason behind it.
Muggings, need money to survive
Utilitarian crimes
The immediate social reaction to the act
Immediately after crime has been how society reacts to the crime represent the ideology of the crime.
Media outrage and police targeting - wasting police time
The wider origins of the social reaction
How do media police reacting
How others react
Scapegoating, diversion and dividing the working class
The outcome of the social reaction
What happens to the person who committed the crime are they labelled.
No revolution, police racism, loss of confidence in the CJS by EM
During this time, ruling class hegemony was under threat due to economic and political crisis. (Wider origins of the deviant act)
To re-assert ruling class hegemony, ruling class and the government diverted attention away from the economic and political crises and chose a scale goat - black muggers.
Hegemony
Dominance in society of the ruling class set of ideas over others and societies acceptance of them
Criticisms of neo-Marxism
Most of the research was focussed on male criminality so it is critiqued by the feminists
Argued this theory romanticises crime, making it appear like “Robin Hood” however most crime is on the working class and not on the rich
Not all crime is politically motivated - domestics violence and rape
Burke (2005) argues this approach is too general to explain crime and too idealistic to be used to tackle crime.
