crime is inevitable in capitalism
because it is criminogenic - causes
crime
1. poverty may mean that crime is the only way the working class can survive. 2. crime may be the only
way they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in theft. 3.
alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in
non-utilitarian crimes such as violence. 4. need to win at all cost of business, along with the desire of
self-enrichment, encourages capitalists to commit white collar crime and corporate crime .e.g. tax evasion
corporate crime
Snider (1993)
argues this is the most serious crime in
modern industrial countries
EXAMPLE found that street crime in the USA cost $4 billion
to fix whereas corporation crime cost $80 billion to fix.
law enforcement
Gordon (1976)
found in all social classes. even though official statics make
it appear to be largely working class phenomenon
WHY 1. economic infrastrure social relationships, values (max
profit and wealth) 2. economic self interest above collectibe well
being 3. competition encourages individuals achievement at
expense of others
HOW DOES LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT CAPITLISM - by punishing the
w/c, blaming them and drawing attention away from the 'system'. and
imprisoning the w/c neutralises opposition 'legitimately'
the state and law making
only serving the interests of the capitalist class
Chambliss (1975)
argues that the law protects provate property are the cornerstone of the
economy. he illustrates this with the case of the introduction of English
law into Britains est Africa colonies. since tgis the law served the
economic interests of the capitalist plantation owners.
the ruling class have the power to
prevent the introduction of laws that
would threaten their interests
selective enforcement
although all classes commit crime. while powerless groups such as the
w/c ad ethnic minorities are criminalised, the courts tent to ignore the
crimes of the powerful.
Ideological functions of
crime and law
Pearce (1976)
laws that appear to benefit the working
class often benefit the ruling class too
keeping workers fit for work, largely working class phenomenon.
this divides the working class by encouraging workers to blame the
criminals in their midst for their problemsd, rather than capitalism
EVALUATION
1. largely ignores the relationship between crime and important non-class
inequalities such as gender. 2. too deterministic and over- predicts the amount
of crime in the working class, not all poor people commit crime despite the
pressure of poverty. 3. not all societies have high crime rates e.g. japan has
homicide rate of 1 per 100,000 whereas the USA have 5.6 per 100,000. 4. left
realists argue Marxism focuses largely on the crimes of the powerful and
ignores intra- class crimes (where both criminals and victims are w/c)
Neo- Marxism
Taylor et al
agree with the traditional Marxist
class conflict and characterised by extreme
inequalities of wealth and power.
criminalises members of the working class
Anti- determinism
Marxism is deterministic- rejects theories that
claim crime is caused by external factors such
as subcultures.
Taylor takes ore of a Voluntaristic
view. argue that crime often has a
political motive.
importance of individual liberty and
diversity - should not be labelled
deviant just because they are different
a fully social theory of deviance
1. traditional Marxist views on the unequal distribution of
wealth and power to enforce the law. 2. ideas from
interactionism and labelling theory of the meaning of the
deviant act of the actor and society and hat effects this has
on the individual
1. the wider origins of the deviant act-
unequal ditribution of wealth and
power in capitalist society
2. the immediate origins of the deviant act- the
particular context in which the individual decides
ro commit the act
3. the act itself and its meaning for the actor -
e.g. was it a form of rebellion against capitalism
4. the immediate origins of social reaction - the
reactions of those around the deviant e.g. police
and community, to discovering the deviance
5. the wider origins of social reactions in the subculture of
capitalist society - especially the issue of who has the power to
define actions as deviant and why some acts are treated more
harshly then others.
6. the effect of labelling on the deviant's future
actions - e.g. why does labelling lead to deviance
amplification in some cases but not others?
EVALUATION
1. feminist criticise for being 'gender blind'. 2. left realists criticise critial
crimonology romanticises w/c criminals 'robin hood' who are fighing capitalism
and by re-distributing wealth. and ignores the effect on w/c victims. 3. Burke (2005)
argues critical crimonology is both too general to explain crime and too
idealistic to be useful in tackling crime.
white collar
crimes
crime committed by a person of respectability
and high social status in the course of his
occupation
Hughes and Langan (2001)
why does it go undetected?
Low visibility
occur mainly in offices and are largely
hidden from the public gaze. Even when pin
pointed it is hard to portion the blame to
any one person
Complexity
large scale fraud is often highly
complex and very hard to
unravel and allocate blame
Diffusion of responsibilities
so many different people involved it
was very hard to blame one particular
person
Diffusion of Victimisation
no obvious victims are involved
here so it less likely individuals
will pursue claims
Corporate Crime
crime carried out on behalf
of an organisation
EXAMPLE during the 20s and 30s Sutherland found that
this was extensive 70 of the largest companiesin
America were involved.