Topic 3 - Marxist Theories

Question 1

How is capitalism criminogenic?

Answer 1

Capitalism is criminogenic - causes crime as it makes us greedy, selfish, focused on personal gain, and alienates us from others

Question 2

Why can the exploitation of the w/c lead to crime? (2+E)

Answer 2

1) Poverty - low-wage workers feel need through crime to get consumer goods
2) Lack of control/alienation - leads to non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism and violence due to frustration.

Evaluation: Marxists always assume class inequality is main source of crime but ignore gender, ethnicity, white collar crime

Question 3

Lawmaking (Chambliss) (3+E)

Answer 3

• Argues laws are made to benefit the ruling class (Bougeosie in control)
• Have power to prevent introduction of laws that threaten their interests e.g. against theft
• Snider argues capitalist system is reluctant to pass laws that regulate business activities or threaten their profitability e.g. tax/environmental laws.

Evaluation: Laws aren’t always only in interests of R/C e.g. laws against non-utiliatarian crime/ theft.

Question 4

Selective enforcement (3+E)

Answer 4

• Poor more likely to be criminalised for similar behaviour to bourgeoisie-biased
• Powerless groups are penalised, whilst crimes of powerful are ignored -> white-collar crime is viewed different to ‘street’ crime
• R/C crimes are under-policed, under-punished and underestimated

Evaluation: However bourgeoisie isn’t always treated favourably by laws, e.g. Bernie Madoff (Ponzi scheme)

Question 5

Neo-Marxist Evaluations (4)

Answer 5

• Traditional Marxists = too deterministic
• Argue w/c are ‘active agents’ who choose/choose not to commit crimes.
• Argue media creates moral panics of w/c crime as a form of social control + to turn people against powerless groups instead of the capitalist system
• Hall: young black males scapegoated for the issues in society- not capitalism.

Question 6

Reiman and Leighton

Answer 6

Argue that the more likely a crime is to be committed by high-class people, the less likely it is to be treated as an offence.

Reinforced by the invisibility of corporate crime:
The media - give very limited coverage to corporate, thus reinforcing the stereotype that crime is a working-class phenomenon

Question 7

Repressive State Apparatus (Althusser)

Answer 7

Maintains control through threats of the criminal justice system e.g. US police response to protests to control society