Marxism And Crime Flashcards
(29 cards)
What are the 4 key points for marxism and crime?
- Capitalism is criminogenic
- All classes commit crime and crimes of capitalist class are costly
- Law made by the capitalist elite
- State practicing selective law enforcement
What is the concept that capitalism is criminogenic?
Capitalism brews criminality.
Who argues that all classes commit crime and that the crimes of the capitalist class are costly?
Gordon
Capitalist societies are ‘dog eat dog’ societies that encourages the selfish pursuit of profit
- learn its acceptable to harm others and the environment in the process
What is meant by the pursuit of self interest?
In capitalist societies, profit is the only way to ensure survival thus creating immense competitive pressure to make more money
Breaking the law can seem insignificant compared to the pressure to succeed
- pressures to break the law affect all people/classes
What is the role of materialism?
Modern capitalism exists due to the culture of consumerism/materialism that is perpetuated by advertising
Corporations benefit from advertising
Advertising presents a lifestyle that may be unattainable for many people in british society as normal
Who talks about desires to succeed and its effects?
Merton and Nightingale
For some the desire to achieve the success goals of society outweigh the pressure to obey the law
- advertising adds to this strain between legitimate means and goals of material success
Who talks about a type of upper class?
Rothkopf and the ‘superclass’
People who run global corporations are the ‘superclass’
- People at the very bottom are the lower class
Who talks about the differences between super wealthy and wealthy?
Bauman
Superwealthy effectively segregate themselves from the wealthy through living in exclusive gated communtities etc
Why is working class crime justified?
Visible evidence of massive inequalities cause a sense of injustice, anger and frustration that theyre not sharing the wealth flaunted infront of them
Who talks about economic crime being a rational response?
Chambliss
Economic crime ‘represents rational responses to the competitiveness and inequality of life in capitalist societies
Who found proof of crime being a result of capitalism?
Parry visitied Island of Anita (extremely egaliterian) and found there was an extremely lowered crime rate in these egaliterian societies
What does it mean that the law is made by the capitalist elite?
The state passes laws that support ruling class interests.
Manheim writes the history of criminal legislation in England and many countries shows an emphasis within law to property protection
What’s a statistic to support property protection?
Roughly 100,000 people recognised as homeless and 300,000 houses lying empty
Rights of property owners to keep their properties empty are put before the rights of the needy to shelter
What is selective law enforcement?
The state practices selective law enforcement.
What do Marxists theorize about the values of the capitalist system?
They filter down to the rest of our culture.
What is the role of advertising in capitalism according to the text?
Advertising morphs products into fantastical images, creating consumer culture.
What does Snider argue about capitalist states regarding regulation?
They are reluctant to pass laws that regulate large capitalist concerns.
Until 2007, no individual member within a corp could be prosecuted for environmental damage or endangerment of workers
What is the main criticism that neo-Marxists have of traditional Marxist views?
They recognize that working class criminals make an active choice to break the law.
What did Young and Taylor attempt to establish in their ‘fully social theory of deviance’?
They aimed to consider the structure of society and the impact of deviant acts.
What did Hall apply the critical criminology approach to?
Black muggers moral panic in the 1970s UK which led to a crackdown by police and a crime wave fantasy
Ruling class sought to divide working class to prevent anti-capitalist activism through turning white workers against black workers
What occured within the 1970s?
A crisis of capitalism according to marxists, within an economic recession
Unemployment had a disproportionate impact on black people in that some chose to enter the informal economy (involved crime) rather than do ‘white man’s shit work’
What are criticisms to the critical criminology approach and working class crime?
Very small amount of crime could be politically motivated/anti-capitalist
Left realists state most victims are working class, calling for a solution to the problem of crime rather than simply trying to understand it
What is white collar crime?
Crimes committed by the middle class that is unlikely to be convicted due to being hard to detect
EG: fraud or tax evasion
Victims often diffused as they’re often committed at a distance
What is corporate crime?
Crimes committed by companies rather than individuals.
individuals may be found to have ultimate criminal responsibility
