Marxist theories
- Created by: chicalatina
- Created on: 21-04-14 14:40
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- Marxist theories
- Traditional Marxism
- The structure of capitalism explains crime.
- Crime is inevitable in capitalism, because capitalism is criminogenic - its very ature causes crime.
- W/c crime - capitalism is based on the exploitation of the w/c for profit.
- As a result, poverty may mean crime is the only way some can survive.
- Crime may be the only way to get consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes e.g. theft.
- Alienation may cause frustration and aggression, leading to non-utilitarian crimes e.g. violence.
- Marxism is too deterministic and over-predicts w/c crime: not all poor people commit crime, despite poverty and alienation. Also, not all capitalist societies have high crime ates e.g. Japan.
- R/c crime - profit motive encourages greed. Encourages capitalists to commit corporate crimes e.g. tax evasion, breaking health and safety laws.
- Gordon - argues that crime is a rational response to capitalism and thus is found in all classes.
- Marxists see law making and enforcement as serving the interests of the capitalist class.
- Cambliss - argues that laws to protect private property are the basis of the capitalist economy.
- R/c also have the power to prevent laws harmful to their interests - few laws challenge the unequal distribution of wealth.
- Reiman - shows that crimes of the powerful are much less likely to be treated as criminal offences and prosecuted.
- Carson - 200 firms, found all had broken health and safety laws, only 1.5% were prosecuted.
- Higher rate of prosecutions for the crimes of the poor.
- Some laws benefit workers e.g. health and safety. Pearce - argues that these also benefit capitalism, as they are giving a 'caring' face, creating false consciousness.
- State enforces the law selectively, therefore crime appears to be largely w/c. it encourages workers to blame w/c criminals for their problems rather than capitalism.
- Selective enforcement distorts crime statistics as crime is appeared to be largely w/c shifting the attention off r/c crime.
- Slapper & Tombs - apple this traditional Marxist view to corporate crime, which the argue is under-policed and rarely prosecuted. This encourages companies to use crime as a means of making profit.
- Others criticise traditional Marxism for largely ignoring non-property crime and deviance.
- Neo-marxism: critical criminology
- Taylor, Walton & Young - agree that capitalism is based on exploitation and inequality; the state makes and enforces laws in the interests of capitalism and criminalises the w/c; there should be a classless society, which would reduce crime.
- But they criticise that it's deterministic as it sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessity.
- Critical criminology has influenced other sociologists e.g. Hall et al - use a combination of Marxism and labelling theory to explain how the moral panic over mugging in the 70s served capitalist interests.
- Taylor et al take a more voluntaristic view, as crime is a conscious choice and criminals are deliberately struggling to change society.
- Taylor et al aim to create a 'fully social theory of deviance' that would help change society for the better. It will have two main sources.
- Traditional Marxist ideas about the unequal distribution of wealth and who has the power to make and enforce the law.
- Labelling theory's ideas about the meaning of the deviant act for the actor, societal reactions to it, and the effects.
- Feminists criticise both traditional and Neo-Marxist approaches for being 'gender-blind'.
- Left realists criticise Neo-Marxists for romanticising w/c criminals as 'Robin Hoods' fighting capitalism.
- Marxism is a structural theory: society is a structure whose capitalist economic base determines the superstructure i.e. all other institutions including the state and criminal system.
- Traditional Marxism
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