marxism Flashcards
what is the marxist view of crime?
- marxism is a left-wing conflict structuralist theory
- see crime as criminogenic
what are the 2 branches of marxism?
classical and neo marxism
what do classical marxists believe in relation to crime?
see working class as passive victims and criminality being driven by factors outside of their control
what do neo marxists believe in relation to crime?
see individuals as having free-will and on experiencing capitalism they divide how to respond to it
marxists believe that capitalism is…
criminogenic - crime is the natural outcome of capitalist practices and values
(bonger)
what are the pandora papers?
A vast leak of financial documents revealing how the wealthy and powerful use offshore tax havens to hide assets, evade taxes, and launder money
snider
selective law enforcement - laws are enforced more strictly among the poor. corporate crimes tend to be more leniently dealt with while financial crimes committed by the poor are almost always pursued by law enforcement
The capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that might regulate the activities of large corporations and therefore affect their profitability. This is partly because the state itself benefits from such corporations through taxation and revenue.
support - lavinia woodward sentencing vs london riots sentencing (25%+)
chambliss
- conscious decisions are made to avoid creating laws and regulations for the wealthy
- also suggested that the ruling classes are able to define what is or is not morally or socially acceptable; for example, there may be huge media coverage of benefits fraud but very few media reports about tax evasion.
box
Crime is seen as rational behaviour, a response to the nature of capitalist society. The type of response merely varies by class location, for example, working class mugging, stealing, prostitution; middle class business fraud.
vagrancy act - illegal to be homeless
gordon
capitalist societies are ‘dog eat dog societies’ in which each company and individual is encouraged to look out for their own interests before the interests of others
culture of envy
timer and eitzen
argue that authorities highlight and prosecute crimes committed by the working-classes (theft, street crime) whilst ignoring crimes of the rich and powerful such as fraud, tax evasion etc. They used the term ‘crimes of the streets and not the suites’ to describe this.
support - pandora papers, mps expenses scandal
mp’s expenses scandal
croall - wcc
- white collar crimes are crimes committed in the course of legitimate employment which involves the abuse of an occupational role. e.g. fraud, embezzlement money laundering, accounting offences, tax evasion, insider deals, computer crime
- Croall argues that WCC costs society far more than crimes carried out by the poor such as burglary.
- They are invisible, may be business practice (ruthlessness), indirect victimization, may not realise you have been a victim, policed by regulatory bodies within the company itself rather than the police.
croall - corporate crime
bhopal, thalidomide, grenfell
thalidomide
- introduced as a sedative and medication for morning sickness without having been tested on pregnant women
- caused birth defects