Marxism

Question 1

What is Criminogenic capitalism? (Gordon)

Answer 1

Crime is inevitable in a capitalist system,it’s nature causes crime

Question 2

Why do people in poverty commit crimes? (Gordon)

Answer 2

-crime as a means of survival
-a way to obtain consumer goods
-alienation and a lack of control over their life resulting in frustration

Question 3

Why do the wealthy commit crimes? (Gordon)

Answer 3

-capitalism is dog-eat-dog
-profit motive encourages greed and self interest
-the need to succeed encourages WCC

Question 4

Evaluations for Gordon)

Answer 4

-not all capitalist societies have high crime rates

-deterministic not all poor people commit crimes

-offers an explanation for both utilitarian and non-utilitarian crime

Question 5

What does Laureen Snider argue about the capitalist state?

Answer 5

-it’s reluctant to pass laws that regulate business activities

-large corps hold lots of power as system survives on profit

-profitable companies can influence or pressure leaders

Question 6

Why does Snider think the laws benefit the rich?

Answer 6

-laws affecting the rich aren’t as enforced

-laws that could threaten corporate profits are unlikely to be introduced

-more likely to sanction poor offenders

Question 7

What does Snider think of Criminogenic capitalism?

Answer 7

-corporate crime is a rational response to capitalism creating competition

Question 8

What does Snider think of Law enforcement

Answer 8

-selective as street crime receives more attention from police even though it’s less costly

Question 9

Evaluation for Snider?

Answer 9

-September 2021 HMRC estimated £5.5 billion loss from tax evasion vs £2.8 billion in benefit fraud
-but gov’t focuses more on benefit fraud

Question 10

What does William Chambliss argue?

Answer 10

-law enforcement serves the interests of the capitalist class

-laws that protect private property are fundamental in capitalist economy

Question 11

How does the law serve economic interest? (Chambliss(

Answer 11

-British introduced payable tax laws into British colonies to force them to work

Question 12

How does the Ruling class define morality? (Chambliss)

Answer 12

-ruling class has the power to define what is morally or socially acceptable

-e.g media coverage of benefits fraud

Question 13

What did Chambliss research?

Answer 13

-studied criminal activity in Seattle from 1962-72
-acccess to power and wealth determined arrests
-elite bribe police

Question 14

What are the evaluations for Chambliss?

Answer 14

-prosecutions of corporate crime do occurs,Marxists believe this is an ideological function

Question 15

How do health and safety laws benefit the rich? (Pearce)

Answer 15

1.keeping workers fit for works-secures profit

2.gives capitalism a caring face/create a false class-consciousness amongst workers

Question 16

What are some evaluations for Pearce

Answer 16

X-functionalist believe that some laws are part of a general agreement

X-some criticised their ideas as being too radical l-assumes legal system exists to indoctrinate the WC

Question 17

What is Neo-Marxism? (Taylor,Walton and Young?

Answer 17

-neo-Marxists combine traditional Marxist ideas with approaches such as labelling theory

Question 18

What are Neo-Marxist beliefs? (Taylor,Walton and Young)

Answer 18

-capitalist society is built on exploitation,class conflict and inequality

-the state makes/enforces laws to benefit the capitalist class

-advocate for replacing capitalism with a classless society to reduce crimes

Question 19

What is anti-determinism? (Taylor,Walton,Young)

Answer 19

-reject deterministic explanations for crime
-instead emphasis voluntarism,viewing crime as a conscious choice

Question 20

What is Taylor,Walton and Young’s fully social theory of deviance?

Answer 20

-theory unites aspects of the unequal distribution of wealth,societal reactions and labelling within capitalist society

Question 21

What are the components of a comprehensive theory of deviance? (Taylor,Walton and Young

Answer 21

1.Origins of deviant acts in unequal wealth and power

2.Immediate origins of the deviant act and its meaning for the actor

3.the act itself and its significance for societal reactions

4.wider origins of societal reactions in the structure of capitalist society

5.effects of labelling on the deviants future actions

Question 22

What are Evaluations for Taylor,Walton and Young?

Answer 22

X-left realists criticise romanticising working class crime

X-feminists argue that it’s ‘gender blind’

+-hall et Al used this approach to explain moral panic over mugging

Question 23

Hall et Al issue on race?

Answer 23

-claim ethnic minority are often stereotyped as more criminal than while people

-criminal justice system and police reinforce this stereotype

Question 24

What did Hall et al argue in ‘policing the crisis’

Answer 24

-focus on street crime among black males in 1970s London

-the media portrayed a moral panic about a “mugging” craze among young black men

Question 25

How does Moral panics perpetuate racial demonisation? (Hall et Al)

Answer 25

-the govt and media were accused of promoting racism to distract from political and economic problems

Question 26

How is deviance used as a form of protest? (Hall et Al)

Answer 26

-young black men were using deviant acts as a way to protest the racism they faced

-led to them being labelled as criminals

Question 27

Evaluations for Hall et Al

Answer 27

-viewed as contradictory
-holistic theory incorporates traditional ideas and labelling theory
-addresses issues of ethnicity and racism in discussions of crime and deviance