Marxism and crime

Question 1

Gordon (criminogenic capitalism)

Answer 1

• crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and is found in all social classes, although official statistics make it appear to be a largely working class phenomenon
• based on exploitation of the working class and is therefore particularly damaging
• gordon argues that crime is inevitable in capitalism because capitalism is criminogenic (buy it very nature it causes crime)
• capitalism can cause crime through: greed, alienation, poverty, status frustration

Question 2

evaluation Gordon

Answer 2

• crime still occurs in capitalist countries, meaning that capitalism isn’t necessarily the main cause of crime

Question 3

Chambliss (the state and law making)

Answer 3

• studied crime in Seattle and concluded that crime is committed throughout society, but prisoners were largely filled with those who had committed petty offences
• crimes of the powerful and wealthy were never penalised as they use their power to corrupt police officers and politicians

Question 4

evaluation Chambliss

Answer 4

• functionalists would argue that laws and policies are placed to maintain the consensus in society, laws reaffirm societal values and make sure that these values are followed

Question 5

Box (selective law enforcement)

Answer 5

• found that most people convicted of serious offences are young uneducated males, often unemployed and live in poverty
• street crime such as robbery, assault and vandalism may be increasing as the material conditions of these groups deteriorate
• argues that this is conveyed by the media as THE crime problem rather than A crime problem, which draws our attention away from upper and middle class criminals (eg the media focuses on WC issues and crimes or immigration rather than white collar crime)

Question 6

evaluation Box

Answer 6

• social media changes selective enforcement, high status, individuals face greater scrutiny

Question 7

Ideological functions of crime and law

Answer 7

• due to the state’s selective law enforcement , crime appears to be a working class phenomenon
• this divides the working class by encouraging workers to blame the criminals in their midst for their problems rather than capitalism
• the media also contributes by portraying criminals as disturbed individuals, concealing the fact that it is the nature of capitalism that make people criminals

the ruling class control the values of society in 2 ways:
- socialisation: the process creates the belief that most criminals are working class
- threat of force: if socialisation fails and when groups present a threat to social order, working class are threatened with harsh punishments for breaking the laws which protect the powerful

Question 8

Taylor (critical criminology)

Answer 8

• neo-marxist
• argues that marxism is deterministic as it sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessities
• rejects this and explanations that argue that crime is caused by external factors such as anomie, subcultures, labelling, biological or psychological factors
• instead argues that crime is voluntary, conscious and a meaningful action committed by individuals who are deliberately striving to change society (eg proletarian action committing crime to achieve classless society)

Question 9

evaluation Taylor

Answer 9

• sex crimes against vulnerable groups such as children are hard to explain as meaningful acts

Question 10

Tombs (crimes of the powerful)

Answer 10

• argues that white collar and corporate crime do far more harm than ordinary street crimes such as theft and burglary
• corporate crime has enormous costs physically (death, injury, illness), environmentally (pollution) and economically (workers, taxpayers and government)

Question 11

what is financial crime

Answer 11

• crimes where money is mishandled (eg fraud, tax evasion)

Question 12

what is green crime

Answer 12

• crime against the environment

Question 13

what is white collar crime

Answer 13

• a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation

Question 14

what is corporate crime

Answer 14

• crime committed by employees for their organisation in pursuit of its goals (eg mis-selling products to increase profits)

Question 15

the abuse of trust

Answer 15

• high status individuals who occupy positions of trust and respectability
• while collar crimes violate and abuse this trust which undermines societies norms and values
• eg Lucy Letby, a nurse who murdered multiple babies whilst in work

Question 16

evaluation the abuse of trust

Answer 16

• white collar crime does not occur as often as crime committed by less powerful individuals due strain, labelling and inadequate socialisation

Question 17

explanations of corporate crime: strain theory

Answer 17

• Box argues that Cohen’s strain theory can be used to explain corporate crime
• if companies cannot maximise their profits legally (legitimately) , they may be motivated to break the law and achieve this (illegitimately)

Question 18

explanations of corporate crime: differential opportunity

Answer 18

• Sutherland see’s crime as being learned from others in a social context
• the less we associate people who hold a law-abiding attitude and more with criminal attitude, the more likely we are to become deviant ourselves
• eg if a company’s culture justifies committing crimes to achieve corporate goals, employees will also be socialised into criminality