Topic 3- Class, Power and Crime

Question 1

what are the three elements marxists use to explain crime?

Answer 1

• criminogenic capitalis
• the state and law making
• ideological functions of crime

Question 2

what do marxists believe explains crime?

what type of society?

Answer 2

the structure of a capitalist society

Question 3

what does criminogenic mean?

Answer 3

where something is believed to be the root of criminal behaviour

Question 4

why do marxists believe crime is inevitable?

Answer 4

because capitalism is criminogenic

Question 5

what are the 3 reasons that crime is inevitable in a capitalist society?

Answer 5

• poverty
• capitalist advertising
• alientation

Question 6

why does poverty cause crime?

Answer 6

it may be the only way a working class person can survive. this may be utilitarium crimes for monetary gain or stealing from shops for food.

Question 7

why does capitalist advertising cause crime?

Answer 7

• it may be the only way someone can obtain consumer goods encouraged by advertising
• this results in utilitarian crimes like theft

Question 8

why does alienation and lack of control cause crime?

Answer 8

• may lead to frustration and aggression resulting in non-utilitarian crimes like vandalism and violence

Question 9

what is capitalist advertising?

Answer 9

it manipulates people into buying material goods

Question 10

what is alienation?

Answer 10

• when people feel disconnected and neglected from society
• e.g. workers are alienated from eachother in competition of eachother at work

Question 11

gives two reasons marxists give about why white collar and corporate crimes are committed

Answer 11

• profit motive encourages a mentality of greed and selfishness.
• the desire to win or the threat to go out of business encourages capitalists to commit crimes.

Answer 12

.

Question 13

what do marxists see law and law making as?

Answer 13

only serving the interests of the capitalist class

Question 14

what does chambliss argue about laws?

and example

Answer 14

• laws that protect private property are the foundations of the capitalist society
• e.g. english law to African colonies show how britains economic interests lay in the colonies
• the local economy was not a money economy so they forced the african population to work by introducing a tax payable in cash which was a punishable offence.
• cash could only be earned on the plantations so they got more workers.

Question 15

what do the ruling class have power to do in terms of laws?

Answer 15

• stop the introduction of laws that threaten their interest
• there are few laws that challenge the distribution of wealth

Question 16

what does snider say about the capitalist state and laws?

Answer 16

• the capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activties of businesses or threaten their profitability

Question 17

what is selective reinforcement?

Answer 17

only some groups like working class and ethnic minorites are crimonalised whilst the crimes of the powerful are ignored.

Question 18

what does reiman say about selective reinforcement?

Answer 18

• crime committed by a higher class is less likely to be treated as a criminal offence
• there is a higher rate of prosecutions for street crimes and a more forgiving view on tax evasion

Question 19

how does capitalism have a caring face?

Answer 19

• it makes laws like health and safety ones to make it appear like they care about the working class
• however means less time off happens so increases productiin levels
• it creates a false consciousness among workers as they do not realise they’re being exploited

Question 20

what are 4 evaluations of the marxist approach to crime?

Answer 20

• focusses too much on class and ignores relationship between crime, ethnicity and gender
• too deterministic and ver predicts the amount of crime working class commit
• not all capitalist societies have high crime rates. e.g. japan and switzerland but with little state welfare provision, USA has crime
• marxists focus too much on crimes of the powerful

Question 21

who is the most important neo-marxist?

Answer 21

taylor et al

Question 22

how is taylor et al’s neo marxist view on crime similar to marxist’s view?

Answer 22

• capitalist society is based on exploitation and class conflict
• the state makes and enforces laws that interests the capitalist class and criminalises the working class
• capitalism should be replaced with a classless society

Question 23

how do neo marxists describe their approach to crime?

Answer 23

critical criminology

Question 24

how does taylor et al’s neo marxist view on crime differ from marxist’s view?

Answer 24

• they say marxism is deterministic and take a voluntaristic view
• they believe crime is a conscious choice
• crime has a political motive
• they believe capitalism doesn’t force them but they actively do crime to go against capitalism

Question 25

what is an example of crime being against politics?

Answer 25

the Black Panthers – a radical black rights group in the US in the 1960s and 1970s who did engage in criminal activity in the course of their political activism.

Question 26

what are the 2 main sources of Taylor et al’s fully social theory of deviance?

Answer 26

• marxist ideas about the unequal distribution of wealth
• ideas from interactionalism and labelling theory about the meaning of the deviant act for the actor and the effects of it.

Question 27

what are the 6 aspects that complete the theory of deviance?

Answer 27

• the wider origins of the deviant act
• the immediate origins of the deviant act
• the act itself
• the immediate origins of social reaction
• the wider origins of social reaction
• the effects of labelling

Question 28

give 3 criticisms of neo marxist’s explanations to crime

Answer 28

• Left realists point out that most victims of crime are working class. Therefore, Marxists should produce solutions to the problem of crime, rather than simply trying to understand (and, some would suggest, excuse) working-class criminals.
• feminists argue it takes a gender-blind approach and only focuses on male crime
• Hopkins Burke argues critical criminology is too general and idealistic