Week 4 - Zemiology, Marxism And Radical Criminology

Question 1

What is Zemiology?

Answer 1

The study of social harm that looks at the harm of nation states and corporations. .

Question 2

How does Zemiology say harm can be caused?

Answer 2

It proposes that the CJS can cause harm to offenders in each stage of the CJS and that the labels given to offenders can also cause harm

Question 3

What does Zemiology say crimes are based on?

Answer 3

Race and social class

Question 4

Who does Zemiology say benefits from the causing of social harm?

Answer 4

People who are in places of wealth or people who benefit from making biased laws, such as white men in the upper class

Question 5

What are the central themes of critical theory?

Answer 5

There is emphasis on inequality and power, it sees crime as a political concept and the the CJS serves the interests of the powerful

Question 6

What does critical theory say is the solution to crime?

Answer 6

A more equitable society

Question 7

What are some variations of critical theory?

Answer 7

Marxist and Radical Theory, Left Realist Theories and Feminist Theories

Question 8

How does traditional Marxism describe crime and deviance?

Answer 8

It says that crime is a reflection of capitalist society and that crime is inevitable in capitalism

Question 9

How does Marxism differ from Durkheims theories?

Answer 9

Durkheim proposes a similar thing but that crime stems from people not fitting into the norms of society as opposed to it stemming from the capitalist society itself that we live in

Question 10

How did Marx term the means of production and the workers?

Answer 10

The bourgeoisie and the proletariat

Question 11

What idea is at the centre of Marx’s arguments?

Answer 11

The idea that social classes stand in an antagonistic relationship between one another

Question 12

What does criminogenic mean?

Answer 12

Criminogenic means that crime is generated by the structure of capitalist society, therefore meaning that crime is inevitable in societies were some are richer than others

Question 13

How does Marx propose the lower classes are pushed to commit crime?

Answer 13

Marx argues that the lower classes are not immune to the the impact of being exploited, and that the build up of unhappiness with their places in the lower classes is where crimes such as violence and assault stem from as they take it out on each other rather than their employer, who is the one at fault.

Question 14

Who says that crime happens in all social classes?

Answer 14

Gordon (1976), as he argues that crime is generated by the structure of capitalist society and is a rational response. Capitalism encourages those in upper classes to commit white collar crime and corporate crimes

Question 15

What analogy did Engels (1844) use to demonstrate why the working classes commit crime?

Answer 15

“If the demoralisation of the worker passes beyond a certain point, then it is just as natural that he will turn to crime as it is inevitable as water turning into steam at boiling point” - it is natural for the worker to turn to crime because they have been so demoralised by society that they have no other option

Question 16

How does Marxism argue the law is selective?

Answer 16

It proposes that the rich get richer and the poor go to prison, as it is the elite in power that determines what laws get made, therefore meaning they are able to protect themselves but sends the working classes to prison

Question 17

How does Box (1993) describe the stereotypical criminal?

Answer 17

Box (1993) argues that the stereotypical criminal through the lens of the media and the aid of statistics is the young black working-class male.

Question 18

How does Gordon (1976) argue the law being selective aids the ruling class?

Answer 18

Gordon (1976) argues that the selective enforcement of the law enforces ruling class power and reinforces ruling class ideologies as it gives the impression that criminals are located mainly in the working class, and means that the working class become divided as they blame the criminals in their midst instead of blaming the criminals that remain at a higher level of social class

Question 19

How do the functionalists describe law creation?

Answer 19

Functionalists argue that the law reflects the will of the people

Question 20

How do Marxists describe law creation?

Answer 20

Marxists argue that the law is a reflection of the will of the powerful, and that it is the powerful that ‘sets the agenda’

Question 21

Who researched “A study of crime in Seattle”?

Answer 21

William Chambliss (1978)

Question 22

What were the findings of “A study of crime in Seattle”?

Answer 22

Chambliss identified selective law enforcement, with 70% of arrests being public drunkenness while white collar crime involving politicians, police and big businesses being ignored

Question 23

What are some strengths of William Chambliss’s research?

Answer 23

It is backed up by good empirical evidence from official statistics

Question 24

What are some weaknesses of William Chambliss’s research?

Answer 24

The police might argue that their focus on working class communities reflected the fact that that was where most crime was taking place.

Question 25

Who researched Class, State and Crime?

Answer 25

Richard Quinney (1980)

Question 26

What were the findings of Quinney’s research?

Answer 26

Quinney found that crime is an inevitable response to the material conditions of capitalism

Question 27

What were the two types of working class crime Quinney determined through his research?

Answer 27

Crimes of accommodation, that are predatory and violent crimes committed by those who are victims of capitalism, and crimes of resistance, such as alcoholism, destruction of property and fighting

Question 28

What are some reasons Hughes and Landon (2001) say white collar crime goes undetected?

Answer 28

Any of the following:

Low visibility, complexity, diffusion of responsibility and diffusion of victimisation

Question 29

What are some strengths of traditional Marxism?

Answer 29

Any of the following:

Links between crime and capitalist society, Relationship between law creation and enforcement, Usefulness of statistics?

Question 30

What are some weaknesses of traditional Marxism?

Answer 30

Any of the following:
Proposes the law only benefits the ruling class, it's Deterministic, there is an over-prediction of working class crime, it doesn't really discuss the working class as being victims of crime, only victims to capitalism

Question 31

What is radical criminology?

Answer 31

Radical criminology adopts a Marxist framework but includes other perspectives such as interactionalism

Question 32

Who researched New/Radical Criminology?

Answer 32

Taylor et al (1973)

Question 33

How does Taylor et al (1973) explain crime?

Answer 33

New criminologists say capitalism makes people choose to be criminal and that criminals are expressing their frustration at capitalist society by breaking the law