Marxism and Neo-Marxism

Question 1

Criminogenic

Answer 1

• Gordon- capitalism is criminogenic in its nature
• Capitalism creates feelings of relative deprivation which leads to status frustration which leads to crime
• 2011 London riots

Question 2

Why does white collar crime happen?

Answer 2

1. Personality based explanations (Gross)- successful people in big companies have an ‘undemanding moral code’
2. Differential association (Sutherland)- executives commit crime for their organisations so they can reach company goals
   e.g. Rana Plaza tragedy 2013

Question 3

Why does white collar crime go undetected?

Answer 3

1. Complexity- large scale fraud is complex
2. diffusion of responsibility- difficult knowing who to blame
   e.g. Starbucks had £400 million sales in the UK but paid no corporation tax- making profit is prioritised because of capitalism leading to crime

Question 4

Ruling elites make the laws

Answer 4

• Chambliss- the ruling elites have the power to make the laws and these reflect their interests
• British colonies in East Africa- the East African people refused to work on the plantations- the British introduced a tax which could only be paid if people had a job, forcing them to work on the plantations
  x communists states still have a high level of crime- China and the USSR

Question 5

What does Neo-Marxism look at

Answer 5

They look at how structures affect the individual and the individual’s decision making

Question 6

Phil Cohen and the ‘skin heads’ (subcultural theory)

Answer 6

• the skinheads were involved in violent behaviour and football hooliganism
• this was a ‘magical recreation of w/c culture’
• they felt w/c culture was being eroded due to the decline in manual labour jobs
• the purpose of the group was a means to cope with an attack on w/c culture
  x feminism- Carlen- ‘gender blind- only looks at male crime and not patriarchal oppression

Question 7

Critical Criminology (Taylor, Walton and Young) combination of Marxism and interactionism

Answer 7

• voluntaristic view- proletariat are striving to challenge the bourgeoisie
• the offender, victim, media and cjs all play a role in the development of a criminal situation
• Stuart Hall ‘policing the crisis’
  x left realists- critical criminology romanticises w/c criminals as Robin Hoods fighting capitalism