Marxism view on crime and deviance

Question 1

What did Taylor, Walton and Young study ?

Answer 1

• An individual position and frustration may lead to resistance/ crime against capitalism
• ‘fully social theory of deviance’
• Must consider the structure of capitalist society :
• how it operates
• how behaviours are interpreted by those in power
• circumstances surrounding choices commit an act

Question 2

What do marxist’s think about ideology and crime ?

Answer 2

We are socialised into accepting a capitalist ideology.

Question 3

What does Althusser study ?

Answer 3

Repressive state apparatus (RSA) - directly and obviously the proletariat
Ideological state apparatus (ISA) - subtly socialise but not accepting capitalist ideology

Question 4

What does Box study ?

Answer 4

• Says some crimes are not socially constructed as criminal
• He says that ‘avoidable workplace deaths’ are not classified as murder because of the ideological control of the ruling class
• e.g war crimes, genocide, Bhopal disaster

Question 5

What does Gordon study ?

Answer 5

• Says fear and control is focused on urban and violent crimes
• No attention on White-collar crimes
• Says that crime in the US is a norm
• Thinks that crime is a response to individual situation and that capitalism creates this situation
• E.g and example in Ghetto crime is that in poor neighbourhoods the legitimate jobs have poor pay so these people turn to illegitimate ways to survive

Question 6

What does Chambliss say about the Saints and the Roughnecks ?

Answer 6

• observed 2 high school gangs
• The saints = middle class, white boys, deviant but none were ever arrested (good status in the community)
• The Roughnecks = working class boys, same levels of delinquency, consistently in trouble with the police (negative status with the police)

Question 7

What do Marxists think crimogenic means ?

Answer 7

Capitalism causes a lot of crime

Question 8

What do hall and Jefferson look at ?

Answer 8

They think that Punks resist capitalism with the way they dress, the music that they ilsten to and they political beliefs

Question 9

What was Hall’s study on policing the crisis ?

Answer 9

• Looks at moral panics in the context of social and economic issues
• ‘Black mugger’ were the scapegoats to provide a distraction from economic worries
• Tougher policing and control was accepted and justified by the police