Topic 3 - Class, Power, and Crime (Marxist Theories)

Question 1

Working class crime - Functionalism

Answer 1

• Not everyone is socialised into the same set of shared values
• MILLER working class have their own subcultural values which clash with the mainstream values

Question 2

Working class crime - Labelling theory

Answer 2

• Other theorists are problem takers and assume the stats are correct

Question 3

A03 Working class crime - Labelling theory

Answer 3

• Labelling theorists are the problem makers
• They change the official statistics and seek to investigate the power of control agents to label working class people as criminal

Question 4

Working class crime - Subcultural theories: CLOWARD and OHLIN

Answer 4

• Use the concept of illegitimate opportunity structures to explain why a range of different crimes are more prevalent within the working class

Question 5

Working class crime - Subcultural theories: COHEN

Answer 5

• Argues the working class are culturally deprived and at the bottom of the status hierarchy and so feel status frustration
• Delinquent subcultures offer them alternative status hierarchy

Question 6

Working class crime - Strain theory: MERTON

Answer 6

• Lower classes are denied the most opportunity, whilst still being fed societies cultural goals of money, therefore more likely to feel the strain and pursue illegitimate opportunities

Question 7

Criminogenic capitalism

Answer 7

• Capitalism by its very nature causes crime
• Ruthless “dog eat dog” competition system amongst capitalists while the profit encourages greed and self-interest
• GORDON argues crime is a rational response to the capitalist and as a direct consequence crime is found in all social classes

Question 8

A03 Criminogenic capitalism

Answer 8

• GORDON however, not reflected by official statistics which makes it appear that crime is largely working class phenomenon

Question 9

The state and law making

Answer 9

• Marxists take the view that the law and agencies of social control such as the police serves only the interests of the ruling class

Question 10

CHAMBLISS

Answer 10

• CHAMBLISS uses the introduction of English law into Britain’s East African colonies
• The economic interests of Britain lay in tea and coffee production in East African colonies and a plentiful supply of local labour was required to ensure British success
• Local East African economy was not money based = reluctancy to work
• British introduced a tax that could only be paid in cash, not paying this was a criminal offence
• The tax could only be paid by working in the plantations to earn cash = served the interests of capitalist plantation owners
• SINDER it is still the case that the capitalist state is still always reluctant to pass laws that regulate businesses and threaten their profitability

Question 11

Selective enforcement

Answer 11

• The powerless groups are criminalised, whilst the crimes of the powerful groups are ignored
• REIMAN “the rich get richer and the poor get prison”
• Crimes committed by the ruling class such as tax evasion and health and safety violations get ignored

Question 12

Ideological functions and the law

Answer 12

• Laws are occasionally passed that appear to be for the benefit of the subject class, e.g., health and safety laws
• PEARCE health and safety laws also benefit the ruling class by keeping workers fit to work = creates a false consciousness

Question 13

A03 Evaluation points

Answer 13

• Ignores the relationship between crime and important non-class abilities e.g., gender and ethnicity
• Too deterministic as not all poor people commit crime
• Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates e.g., Japan
• CJS sometimes acts against interest of capitalist class e.g., prosecutions for corporate crime
• LR argues marxists ignore intra-class crime of crime where both criminal and victim are apart of the same class

Question 14

Neo-marxism

Answer 14

• Critical criminology
• Combination of traditional marxist views with ideas from interactionists and labelling theorists
• TAYLOR, WALTON, and YOUNG

Question 15

Points agreeing with marxism (Neo)

Answer 15

• Capitalist society is based on exploitation and class conflict and characterised by extreme inequalities of wealth and power
• State selectively enforces and makes laws that criminalise the working class
• Capitalism should be replaced by a classless society as this would reduce crime and remove it in the long term

Question 16

Points disagreeing with marxism (Neo)

Answer 16

• TAYLOR ET AL argues marxism is too deterministic arguing workers are driven to commit crime out of economic necessity
• They present an anti-deterministic explanation of crime arguing there is a voluntaristic element

Question 17

Anti-determinism

Answer 17

• Neo Marxists (TAYLOR) reject any explanation for crime that states it is caused by external factors e.g., anomie, subcultures, and labelling
• They take a voluntaristic approach with the assumption that we have free will
• They believe crime is a meaningful action
• People choose to commit the crime (redistribute wealth to the poor)

Question 18

Neo-Marxist view

Answer 18

• Aim to create a classless socialist society and social equality whilst embracing individual liberty and diversity

Question 19

A fully social theory of deviance

Answer 19

1 The wider origins of the deviant act
2 The immediate origins of the deviant act
3 The act itself
4 The immediate origins of societal reaction
5 The wider origins of societal reaction
6 The effects of labelling

Question 20

A03 Neo-Marxism

Answer 20

• CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGISTS romanticise criminals such as Robin Hood type figures who are fighting capitalism by re-distributing wealth from the rich to the poor
• Fail to address the effect of crime on working class
• BURKE argues critical criminologists explanations are too general and idealistic so are no use in terms of crime reduction strategies

Question 21

White collar crime

Answer 21

• SUTHERLAND
• A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation

Question 22

Corporate crime

Answer 22

• TOMBS and PEARCE
• Any illegal act or omission that are the result of deliberate or culpable negligence by a legitimate business organisation that is intended to benefit the business

Question 23

Scale and types of corporate crime

Answer 23

• TOMBS: physical, economic, and environmental
  Types of crime:
• Financial crime
• Crimes against consumers
• Crimes against employers
• Crimes against the environment
• State-corporate crime

Question 24

Abuse of trust

Answer 24

• UK dentists have claimed pay-outs from the NHS for treatment they haven’t done

Question 25

Invisibility of corporate crime

Answer 25

• The media
• Lack of political will
• The crimes are often complex
• De-labelling
• Under reporting

Question 26

The media

Answer 26

• Limited coverage which reinforces the edits that crime is a working class phenomenon

Question 27

Lack of political will

Answer 27

• To tackle corporate crime, tough on crime is focussed on street crime with Home Office excluding corporate crime from their surveys

Question 28

The crimes are often complex

Answer 28

• Law enforcement are often understaffed, under resourced, and lack the technological expertise to investigate

Question 29

De-labelling

Answer 29

• Corporate crime is often filtered out and defined as civil rather than criminal

Question 30

Under-reporting

Answer 30

• The victim is usually society rather than 1 victim so do not realise they are a victim

Question 31

A03 Invisibility of corporate crime

Answer 31

• Corporate crime is becoming partially visible

Question 32

Explanations of corporate crime - Stain theory

Answer 32

• BOX argues when companies cannot achieve the goal of maximising profit by legal means, they may employ illegal means
• CLINARD and YEAGAR found law violations increased as a company’s financial performance decrease - suggesting innovation

Question 33

Explanations of corporate crime - Differential association

Answer 33

• SUTHERLAND sees crime as behaviour learned in social context
  Deviant subculture: socialise new members into deviant groups
  Techniques of neutralisation: individuals deviate more easily if they are able to justify their actions

Question 34

Explanations of corporate crime - Marxism

Answer 34

• BOX argues capitalism has created a ‘mystication’ (an ideology that corporate crime is less harmful and widespread than working class crime)

Question 35

Explanations of corporate crime - Labelling theory

Answer 35

• Whether or not an act is criminal depends on if a label has been successfully applied

Question 36

A03 Corporate crime

Answer 36

• Both strain theory and Marxism over predict the amount of business crime. NELKEN would argue it is unrealistic to assume all businesses would offend if not for punishment = deterministic
• If capitalist pursuit of profit is the cause of corporate crime this doesn’t explain corporate crime in non-profit organisations such as the police
• Law abiding could actually be more profitable