believe crime is inevitable in a capitalist society because it encourages poverty, competition and greed. Although all classes commit crime, the working class are largely criminalised for their actions because the ruling class control the state and can ma
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Criminogenic capitalism
Poverty (caused be capitalism) may mean that crime is the only way the working class can survive. Crime also may be the only way the working class can obtain consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as thef
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State and law making
Chambliss state that laws to protect private property are a cornerstone of the capitalist economy.
Snider argues that capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability.
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Selective enforcement
Marxists believe that although all classes commit crime, when it comes to application of the law by the criminal justice system, there is selective enforcement. While powerless groups such as the working class and ethnic minorities are criminalised, the p
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Ideological functions
Pearce theorises that laws give capitalism a ‘caring’ face, and create a false consciousness among workers. This is because the state enforces the law selectively, crime appears to be largely a working-class phenomenon. This divides working class due to h
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Neo - Marxism
Taylor et al criticise Marxists for economic determinism and instead see crime as meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor. In particular, they argue that crime often has a political motive. Criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour i
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Taylor et al produced ‘a fully social theory of deviance’ to understand crime in society.
The wider origins of the deviant act - the unequal distribution of wealth and power in capitalist society
Immediate origins of the deviant act - the context in which the individual decides to commit the act
The act itself - its meaning for the actor
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Taylor et al produced ‘a fully social theory of deviance’ to understand crime in society. 2
Immediate origins of social reaction - the reactions of those around the deviant act
The wider origins of societal reaction - who has the power to define actions as deviant and to label others, and why some acts are treated more
harshly than others
The e
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White collar and corporate crime
Reiman and Leighton 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.
much higher rate of prosecutions for the typical ‘street crimes’ that poor people commit (such as burglary
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White collar and corporate crime 2
Tombs notes that corporate crime has enormous costs: physical (deaths, injuries, illnesses), environmental (pollution) and economic (to consumers, workers, taxpayers and governments).
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Invisibility of corporate crime
The media - give very limited coverage to corporate, thus reinforcing the stereotype that crime is a working-class phenomenon
Lack of political will to tackle corporate crime - politicians rhetoric of being ‘tough on crime’ only applies to street crime.
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Invisibility of corporate crime 2
The media - give very limited coverage to corporate, thus reinforcing the stereotype that crime is a working-class phenomenon
Lack of political will to tackle corporate crime - politicians rhetoric of being ‘tough on crime’ only applies to street crime.
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Explanations of corporate crime
Box argues that if a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may employ illegal ones instead.
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Differential association
Sutherland Sees crime as behaviour learned from others in a social context. The less we associate with people who hold attitudes favourable to the law and the more we associate with people with criminal attitudes, the more likely we are to become deviant
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Labelling theory
Cicourel argues that typically, the working class are more likely to have their actions labelled as criminal. The middle class are more able to negotiate non-criminal labels for their misbehaviour.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Criminogenic capitalism
Back
Poverty (caused be capitalism) may mean that crime is the only way the working class can survive. Crime also may be the only way the working class can obtain consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as thef
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