Transcript Lesson 6 – Marxism

Lesson 6
Marxist perspectives of Crime and Deviance
 Identify and define why Marxist see crime as
inevitable in capitalist society,
 Identify and define traditional and neo-marxist
approaches to crime and deviance, and the similarities
and differences between them,
 Apply and evaluate the strengths and limitations of
marxist and neo-marxist approaches to crime and
deviance.
A-Z
Back To
Starters
e.g. Write down a key/related word for our topic area for
as many letters of the alphabet as you can.
Arms
Bay
Conflict
Darfur
Earth
Freedom
Guantanamo
Harm
What do we remember about the
Marxist?
In your notebook
create a spider
diagram
summarising
everything that you
remmber about
Marxism
Traditional Marxism
 3 key concepts:
 Criminogenic capitalism,
 State and law making,
 Ideological functions of crime and law.
Criminogenic capitalism
 Crime is inevitable in capitalism as it is criminogenic
(crime by its very nature causes crime),
 Crime is essentially based on the exploitation of the
working class thus it is more damaging to them:
Poverty may mean that crime is the only way to
survive,
2. Crime can be the only way to obtain the consumer
good encouraged by society,
3. Alienation and a lack of control over their lives may
lead to frustration and aggression thus resulting in non
utilitarian crime.
1.
Criminogenic Capitalism
 Gordon (1976) – crime is a rational response to the
capitalist system and hence is found in all social
classes not just the working classes,
 Capitalism is a dog eat dog world system of ruthless
competition amongst capitalist with key focus points:
Profit motive = mentality of greed and self interest,
2. White collar crime = need to win at all cost and self
interest
1.
WDYT
Does capitalist consumerism
encourages utilitarian crime
?
State and law making
 State and the laws only seen as serving the interest of
the ruling class:
 Chambliss (1975) – laws to protect private property are
the cornerstone of the capitalist economy (colonisation)
 Snider (1993) – the capitalist state is reluctant to pass
laws that are likely to regulate the activities of
businesses or threaten their profitability (unequal
distribution of health)
Selective Enforcement
 Reiman (2001) – the rich get richer and the poor get
prison,
 Marxist argue that although all classes commit crime
when it comes the application of the laws there is
selective enforcement ,
 Powerless groups such as ethnic minorities, and the
working class are criminalised, the police and courts
tend to ignore the crimes of the powerful.
WDYT
Suggest
twothree
examples
“dog eat
Identify
more of
examples
dog”ofsituations
produced
each
typical street
crimesbyand
capitalism
typical higher
class crimes.
Ideological Functions of the Law
 Laws are occasionally passed that appear for the
benefit of the working class rather than capitalism
(health and safety laws),
 Carson (1971) – lack of enforcement of such laws
through survey of 200 firms,
 Due to selective enforcement, crime appears to be
largely a working class phenomenon, thus
encouraging the working class to blame the criminals
in their midst as opposed to capitalism
On your take groups using your notes, each
come up with a single criticism of the
traditional Marxism
Neo – Marxism (Critical Criminology)
 Combination of the Marxist perspectives and labelling
theory:
 Taylor, Walton and Young (1973) – The New Criminology,
 Agree that capitalist is based on exploitation and class
conflict and characterised by extreme inequalities of
wealth,
 The state makes and enforces laws in the interest of the
capitalist class and criminalises the members of the
working class,
 Capitalism should be replaced by a classless society this
would reduce the extent of crime and even rid society of
crime entirely.
Anti