...different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class. Marxist theorists suggest that the workings of society can be explained by the concept of exploitation – the ruling class exploit the working class. This is the fundamental point by which Chambliss pointed to explore the relationship between class and crime. Traditional Marxists imply that the judiciary system is beneficial to the ruling class only. This dominant ideology disseminates through agencies such as, education, media, and religion which is forced onto individuals, this process is known as hegemony. The capitalistic society is based upon consumers and competition therefore crime can be seen as an inevitable outcome of these values which stress looking after one self at the expense of others. In other words, those maintaining the capitalistic society maximize the benefit of the criminal judiciary system. If we look at the traits of the concept of capitalism, it is likely that the upper classes are able to commit such white collar crimes such as fraud and theft without any comeuppance. Marxists theorists provide explanations how crime is dealt within society, in order to maintain the status quo. Capitalism inevitably plays a large role in this, as they divert attention of the masses away from the causes of crime and the capitalist controlled judiciary system aids capitalist society play on this, as society views young working class white/black males as criminal/deviant groups. This instills...
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...the relationship between crime and social class Marxism is a structural theory and says we live in a capitalist society which is divided into 2 classes, the ruling class who own the means of production and the working class who are exploited by the RC in order to create profit. There are 3 types of Marxism, traditional Marxists, neo-Marxists and new left realists, each of these believe that the capitalists society is partly to blame to crime but different views as to why and how and to what extent. I will look at the link between what they say about class and crime. According to traditional Marxists such as Chamblis and Pearce, everyone commits crime but it is only the working class that gets caught. Traditional Marxists argue that the working class are over represented in crime statistics because of selective policing. The police choose to pursue working class street crimes rather than trying to catch corporate or white collar crimes that are usually committed by ruling or middle classes. As these ruling class crimes are not caught, the working class appear to be more criminal than other social groups. The neo-Marxist Box estimated while in one year 20,000 people were murdered, 14000 died in industrial accidents and 30,000 died as a result of unsafe consumer products. While the death toll for these corporate crimes is much higher than that of street crime, the number of convictions for corporate crime was much lower so the working class street crimes were seen as more common...
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...between crime and social class Marxists believe that the capitalist system is just a way in which the ruling classes control and exploit the workers, and it focuses on the unequal conflict between these two sectors of society. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is criminogenic – which means that by its nature it inevitably causes crime. Marxists see crime in the capitalist system as something the ruling class can use to control the working class and crime is a result because of the oppression the working class face. They also believe that laws are enforced mostly to benefit the interests of the ruling class. Neo-Marxists are another branch of Marxism. They discuss more contemporary ideas of crime and their ideas, such as saying crime results out of political anger. They state that the traditional Marxist perspective is too deterministic. Traditional Marxist’s view of crime has 3 key aspects: The Criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making and ideological functions of crime and law. Criminogenic capitalism is the Marxist idea that crime is inevitable because of the nature of capitalism. They believe that because of capitalism as the unequal divide between classes, committing crime is sometimes the only way people can live. For example, a young man who is living in poverty may have to resort to robbery in order to survive. In addition, sometimes the working class may feel frustrated that they are under the control of the ruling class and commit crimes such as...
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...the relationship between crime and social class Marxism is a structural theory and says we live in a capitalist society which is divided into 2 classes, the ruling class who own the means of production and the working class who are exploited by the RC in order to create profit. There are 3 types of Marxism, traditional Marxists, neo-Marxists and new left realists, each of these believe that the capitalists society is partly to blame to crime but different views as to why and how and to what extent. I will look at the link between what they say about class and crime. According to traditional Marxists such as Chamblis and Pearce, everyone commits crime but it is only the working class that gets caught. Traditional Marxists argue that the working class are over represented in crime statistics because of selective policing. The police choose to pursue working class street crimes rather than trying to catch corporate or white collar crimes that are usually committed by ruling or middle classes. As these ruling class crimes are not caught, the working class appear to be more criminal than other social groups. The neo-Marxist Box estimated while in one year 20,000 people were murdered, 14000 died in industrial accidents and 30,000 died as a result of unsafe consumer products. While the death toll for these corporate crimes is much higher than that of street crime, the number of convictions for corporate crime was much lower so the working class street crimes were seen as more common...
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...assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class. Marxism is a conflict structural theory which states that there is a division of labour between two social classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariats, because of the existence, exploitation and reproduction of capitalism. Marxists explain how superstructures in society, such as religion, politics, media, education, law etc, act as agencies of control and serve the interests of the ruling class. Unlike functionalists, Marxists do not agree that there is a value consensus in society but instead state that the superstructures benefit the bourgeoisie and damage the lives of the proletariat. As Item A states, crime in society can be seen as a reaction against the unequal distribution of wealth through the social position they have been given. The essay will focus on the relationship between crime and social class in a Marxist perspective. The traditional Marxist approach to crime suggests that crime is inevitable because capitalism is criminogenic – crime is built in its very nature. The concept of capitalism is to create as much profit by paying low wages to the labourers which leads to many consequences. The exploitation rises poverty and material deprivation which means that crime may be the only option for working class members to survive. Utilitarian crimes are more likely to be committed by working class members than the ruling class because the materials they require many not be achievable...
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...of the relationship between crime and social class (21marks) Marxist believes that in a capitalist society inequality and exploitation of the working class is inevitable. When assessing the relationship between crime and social class Marxist believe because of this exploitation crime inevitable. However there are two main views to this theory traditional and neo Marxist which believes in the same functions of crime (that is inevitable) however has conflicting views on how this occurs. Traditional Marxist believe capitalist society explains crime in 3 main functions criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making, and the ideological functions of crime. Criminogenic capitalism explains that the working class have no other option but to commit crime this may be because; they live in poverty so have no choice but to commit crime, lack of control over their lives therefore due to frustration commit non ulitarian crime such as vandalism, or Ulitarian crime may be the only way they can obtain goods that are advertised in capitalist culture. Traditional Marxism state it is not only working class that commit crime they state that a capitalist society encourages greed therefore promotes white collar crime such as corporate crime. From this the relationship between crime and social class is fairly equal as they both are victims of a capitalistic society. Gordon explains this as a ration response to the capitalist system and hence is found in all social classes. However this view can...
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...Deviance and Social Control Deviance and Social Control Unit: New Left Realism New Left Realism Deviance and Social Control New Left Realism Introduction In the early 1980's, two "new" approaches to the study of crime and deviance began to emerge in Britain and America, both of which focused upon the "realities" of crime (specifically) - but from different ends of the political spectrum. In Britain, the "New Left Realism" started to develop through the work of writers such as Lea and Young ("What Is To Be Done About Law And Order?", 1984), while the "New Right Realism" (confusing isn't it?) developed around the work of Wilson ("Thinking About Crime", 1977) in America and writers such as Clarke and Mayhew ("Designing out Crime", 1980) in Britain. While, as you might expect, the two basic approaches address the "problem" of crime from quite different political starting points, they have a couple of ideas in common: 1. Both view crime as a form of "social problem" - not only for control agencies but also for the victims / potential victims of crime. 2. Both produce ideas that attempt to locate crime within a wider political (albeit different) context - the "New Realism". In this set of Notes, therefore, what I propose to do is: a. Outline the basic elements of each perspective. b. Evaluate their overall strengths, weaknesses and general contributions to our understanding of the phenomenon of crime / deviance. This set of Notes focuses on New Left Realism and a subsequent...
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...Evaluate Marxist explanations of Crime and Deviance Labelling theory paved the way in understanding how deviance was something defined by social processes. In this way social agencies such as the police defined what was deviant. Marxists took this view even further by examining the power of certain social groups to define deviance and create the laws which secured social conformity. Marxists see crime and deviance as not coming from moral or biological defects but defects within social order. Crime is an inevitable part of capitalism as it stems from social inequalities. Working-class crime is caused by labour exploitation and material misery. Therefore theft is an expression of that exploitation and is a political act of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. As anything the ruling class defines as being criminal because it’s in their interests to do so. The ruling class will violate laws with impunity while members of the subject classes will be punished. Crime is a reaction to the life conditions of a person’s social class. Crime diverts the working-class’s attention from the exploitation they experience; it contains their resistance. Crime changes from society to society depending on the political and economic structures of society. Crime will persist in capitalist societies because they promote inequality and class conflict, and penal law will expand relative to that inequality and exploitation. Chambliss argues that acts are defined as criminal only when it’s in the...
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...strengths and weaknesses of Marxists explanations of crime Traditional Marxism is a structural theory which sees society as a structure in which the economic base determines the shape of the superstructure, which is made up of all the other social institutions, including the state, the law and the criminal justice system. Their function is to serve the ruling-class interests and maintain the capitalist society. Marxists agree that the law is enforced against powerless groups and that labelling often results in further deviance. They see crime and deviance as not coming from moral or biological defects but defects within social order and therefore crime is an inevitable part of capitalism as it stems from social inequality. For Marxists, crime is inevitable in capitalism because capitalism is criminogenic. Capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working class and therefore is particularly damaging to the working class which may give rise to crime. Alienation and the lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism and violence. Crime may also be the only way they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft. Therefore, it can be said a strength of the Marxist explanation of crime is that is it explains the causes of both utilitarian and non-utilitarian crime of the working class. However, one could argue that this view is too deterministic...
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...function of punishment is not to remove crime but to ‘heal the wounds done to collective sentiment’. * Without Punishment – collective sentiments would lose their force and strength * Crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional. Function of Punishment: * According to Durkheim the function of punishment is not to remove crime but to ‘heal the wounds done to collective sentiment’. * Without Punishment – collective sentiments would lose their force and strength * Crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional. Crime is Inevitable: * Durkheim argued that crime in an inevitable and normal aspect of social life. * Crime is present in all types of society; indeed the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrialized countries. * It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs). Crime is Inevitable: * Durkheim argued that crime in an inevitable and normal aspect of social life. * Crime is present in all types of society; indeed the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrialized countries. * It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs). Crime is Functional: * Durkheim argues that it only becomes dysfunctional when it is rate is unusually low or high. * He argues that all social change begins with some form of deviance...
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...Deviance is defined as as a violation of social norms, in regards to sociology. But what if deviance is actually just the opposite? What if deviance is simply a social norm? Cultural deviance theory suggests that the conformity to cultural norms of lower class societies actually causes crime. Simply stated, if you are in a lower class of society, committing a crime is actually an act of conformity. In the case of these poor societies, it is more obscure to not conform to the consistent lifestyle of crime. Moreover, does deviance really even exist in these societies? Those born into a lower class society, according to the cultural deviance theory, are born into a life of crime. Members of the poor society are expected to commit crimes, due...
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...the ruling class. The class that owns the means of production, also owns the means of mental production, thus the ruling classes inform and influence legislation and policy in order to reflect their ideologies. The term ideology is embedded from German philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles; such ideologies include the system of institutions such as family, churches, the education system, and mass media. The ideologies of the ruling class thus render the working class (proletariat) into conformity by persuading them that the interests of the capitalists (bourgeoisie) are also in the interest of the working class. These ideologies defend and uphold the social position of the ruling classes. Jeffery Reimen stated that, the rich get richer and the poor get prison, thus, as the laws reflect the ideologies of the ruling class, there cannot be equality before the law, as the law protects those who define it. This essay will demonstrate the issue of the justice system within capitalist societies and the effects of the law and policy formations that reflect the wishes and ideologies of the ruling class, while exploiting the poor. The broad theory of critical criminology also known as radical criminology, explores various theoretical perspectives, specifically Marxist criminology and labeling theory. In light of these perspectives, this essay will provide insight on the disproportionate and bias treatment of the criminal justice system. White-collar crime (corporate crimes) and blue-collar...
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...Assess functionalist theories of crime and deviance. Functionalism is a social structural and social control theory. It believes that it is society that causes the individual to commit crime. Social control theory looks at why people do not commit crime as it says that people are controlled by the primary and secondary agents of social control, such as the family or religion, and so should not commit crime. Functionalism is also a Right Wing theory, which believes that agents of social control like the police are fair and just; law reflects the collective conscience; people are biologically selfish and official statistics are valid. Functionalists included in this essay are Durkheim and Merton with evaluation from functionalist subcultural theorists, Cloward and Ohlin, and Marxism. Durkheim said that crime is inevitable: this is because people are not equally committed to the law due to individual differences and each society has its own definitions of what is deviant and so even a ‘society of saints’ will have deviance. He also said that crime is functional for society when there is the ‘right’ amount. The collective conscience needs to be at a moderate energy so that there is not too much or too little crime. When there is the right amount, society can progress as the criminal may be ‘the origin of the genius’ as they challenge societies current values. Durkheim also made the concept of anomie. At times of rapid change, society can enter a state of normlessness, as there are...
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...Crime and Deviance Revision SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Sociology Department Greenhead College SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Remember: You have to revise everything, because you have no choice on the exam paper. The specification 1 Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control * Different definitions of crime, deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution...
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...of Crime and Deviance Functionalist’s believe that shared norms and values are the basis of social order and social solidarity. They see crime and deviance as dysfunctional to society. However, functionalist’s do see some crime as being ‘normal’. Merton took functionalist views further by saying that crime and deviance were a strain between the socially accepted goals of society and the socially approved means of achieving them - this strain then results in deviance. The American Dream states that anyone can make it to the top. However, emphasis is placed on material success so people feel pressure to deviate from accepted norms and values. People are tempted to reach the top even by illegal means, he explains this as ‘Anomie’. Anomie means normlessness - where norms no longer guide behaviour and instead anything goes. Merton identifies five possible responses of a strain to anomie. Conformity; people conform even if they are unlikely to achieve the goal. Innovation; accepting the goal of success but have little chance of achieving through normal means, turning to illegal means. Ritualism; abandoning the goal of success but stick to the rules (working in a dead end job). Retreatism; reject the goal of success and normal means to achieve it, drop out of school becoming tramps and drug addicts. Rebellion; reject the conventional goals and means of achieving them and replace them with alternative ways. Merton’s theory offered an explanation for working class crime but...
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