Neo-Marxist Explanation of Crime

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  • Created by: BenFudge
  • Created on: 19-10-17 19:17
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  • Neo-Marxist Explanation for Crime and Deviance (Critical Criminology)
    • Anti-Determinisim
      • Taylor et al - Argue that traditional Marxism is 'deterministic'. E.g. it sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessity.
        • They reject this explanation, along with theories that claim crime is caused by other external factors such as Anomie, subcultures or labelling, or by biological and psychological factors.
          • Instead, they take a more 'voluntaristic' view (free will).
            • They see crime as a meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor.
            • They argue that crime often has a political motive - e.g. distribute wealth to the poor - criminals are deliberately striving to change society.
            • They argue that individuals should not be labelled deviant just because they are different, as in a capitalist society - instead, they should be free to live their lives as they wish.
    • A fully social theory of Deviance
      • Taylor et al - 'A fully social theory of deviance' is a comprehensive understanding of crime and deviance that would help to change society for the better. This needs to unite 6 aspects
        • 1 - The wider origins of the deviant act: in the uneqaul distribution of wealth and power in capitalist society.
        • 2 - The immediate origins of the deviant act: the particular context in which the individual decides to commit the act.
        • 3 - The act itself: and its meaning for the actor.
        • 4 - The immediate origins of societal reaction: the reactions of those around the deviant, such as police, family and community, to discovering the deviance.
        • 5 - The wider origins of societal reaction: in the struct of caurepitalist society; especially the issue of who has the power to define actions as deviant and to label others, and why some acts are treated more harshly than others.
        • 6 - The effect of labelling: on the devaints future actions; e.g. why does labelling lead to deviant amplification in some cases but not in others?
        • For Taylor et al, these 6 aspects are interrelated and need to be understood together as part of a single unified theory.
    • Evaluation of Critical Criminology
      • Feminists - Criticise Taylor et al for being 'gender blind', focusing excessively on male criminality and at the expense of female criminality.
      • Left Realists - Argue that criminology romanticises w/c criminals as 'Robin Hoods' who are fighting capitalism by re-distributing wealth from the rich to the poor.
        • However, in reality, these criminals simply rely on the poor. Also, they argue that Taylor et al do not take such crime seriously and they ignore its effects on w/c victims.

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