Class, Power and Crime

Question 1

Marxist view has 3 elements…

Answer 1

• Criminogenci Capatalism
• The state and law making
• Ideological functions of crime and law.

Question 2

Criminogenic Capatalism

Answer 2

Crime is inevitable in a capatilist society due to inequality

Question 3

Gordon

Criminogenic capatalism

Answer 3

Crime is a rational response to capitalism, hence it’s found in all social classes, even though official statistics make it appear just w/c.

Question 4

Snider

Answer 4

Capatalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate business or threaten profits.

Question 5

Pearce

Answer 5

Laws give the r/c a caring face, for example health and safety laws, but they are rlly here for r/c benefits (to stop prosecution etc)

Question 6

Evaluation of Marxism approach to crime

Answer 6

• ignores gender and race.
• Not all capitalist societies have high crime, Japan is 1/5 of USA crime rate
• CJS does prosecute r/c, e.g. amazon tax

Question 7

Neo Marxists/ Critical criminologists

Answer 7

agree with Marxists:

• Capatalism based on inequality
• state make laws for r/c
• needs to be replaced with classless system

Question 8

Taylor, Walton and Young

Answer 8

Say crime is Voluntaristic (Anti-determinism). They say crime is a conscious act with political motives. For example w/c wish to redistribute wealth, like Robin Hood.

Criminals are not passive but people actively striving for change.

Question 9

A fully social theory of devince

Answer 9

Taylor et al, new theory to understand crime must include:

• Wider origins of act
• Immediate orgins of act
• act
• immediate social reaction
• wider origins of social reaction
• effects of labelling

Question 10

Counter for crit crim

Answer 10

• feminist say ignore female crime

- Hopkins (crit crim is too idealistic to be effective, e.g. romatices criminals as robin hood)

Question 11

Tombs

Answer 11

Corp crime has huge effects, deaths, environmental and shit. Concludes white collar is not just a few individuals but very widespread

Question 12

Sutherland

Answer 12

White collar crime baby

Question 13

Corporate crime includes

Answer 13

• finance
• crime against consumers
• crime against employees (Tombs - 1100 employee die a year through employers break laws)
• Green crime
• state-corporate crime (Contracters in Iraq accused of torcher)

Question 14

GP Harold Shipman

Answer 14

Convicted of murder of 15 patients and expected of 200 more. Abused trust as a GP.

He got enough morphin to kill 360 ppl and the GP council gave a warning and nothing more…

Question 15

Reasons corp crime is never seen

Answer 15

• Media don’t show
• Very complicated
• Not labelled criminal, just given a fine.
• victims don’t report

Question 16

Box

Answer 16

If a company cant achieve their goals of maximising profits, they will turn to crime

Question 17

Geis

Answer 17

Individuals joining companies where illegal price fixing is common, they will become part of it through socialisation into the company

Question 18

Skyes and Matza

Answer 18

Individuals will deviate more if they can justify it.

e.g. ‘everyone else is doing it’ or ‘they should’ve read the small print’

Question 19

Neklen

Answer 19

Powerful, unlike w/c have power to avoid labelling through good lawyers etc.

Question 20

Box

Capatalism has…

Answer 20

Capatilism has created a ‘mystification’, the idea that corporate crime is less harmful

Question 21

Counter of white collar

Answer 21

• Neklen (wrong to assume all companies do crime just because they can.)
• Ignores non-utilitarian corp crime, e.g. police brutality.

Question 22

Miller

Funct

Answer 22

The lower class has developed an independant culture with diff norms and values. This explains why they have higher crime rate as deviate from our norms