A Level Sociology

Crime and Deviance

Topic 2

Marxist Theories of Crime and Deviance, Class and Crimes of the Powerful

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Objectives: Understand why Marxists see crime as inevitable in society Under Marxist and Neo-Marxist approaches to crime and deviance and be able to distinguish

between the two Be able to evaluate the strengths and limitations of Marxist and Neo-Marxist approaches Understand the nature and the extent of white collar and corporate crime Develop an understanding of the relationship between social class and crime

Marxism Reviewed…Marxists believe that capitalism causes crime but it is the working classes who suffer the consequences, either as victims or by being unfairly labelled. There are different aspects to the Marxist perspective:

1. Criminogenic capitalism

2. The state and law making

3. Ideological functions of crime and law

Firstly, let’s recap: use the table below to recall as many Marxist concepts that you can remember from L6.

Concept (AO1) Explanation (AO1) Can you apply it to their view of crime? (AO2) Stretch yourself!!

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Activity: write a paragraph which uses concepts to explain the Marxist view of society (you can use the space below or lined paper).

Now swap with your partner and highlight the skills you have each demonstrated (concepts, theory, examples and evaluation.) See if you can improve by ‘making a steal.’

Traditional Marxism and Crime:

1. Criminogenic Capitalism:

Marxists see crime as inevitable in a capitalist society because capitalism itself is criminogenic. This means that by its very nature it causes crime. Capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working classes; they are used to make a profit as whatever the cost.

It is therefore particularly damaging to the working classes.

Poverty means that crime is the only way in which the working classes can survive Crime may be the only way they can obtain consumer goods encouraged by capitalist

advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft Alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression,

resulting in non-utilitarian crimes

For a Marxist crime is not confined to the working classes. Capitalism is a ‘dog eat dog’ system of ruthless competition among capitalists which encourages greed and self-interest. This encourages corporate crime and white-collar crime.

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Gordon argues crimes is a rational response to the capitalist system and hence it is found in all social classes – even though official statistics make it appear that crime is a working-class phenomenon.

Activity: identify the crimes associated with each of the classes

Ruling class crimes –

Working class crimes –

2. The State and Law Making:

Marxists see the law and law enforcement as only serving the interests of capitalism class. Chambliss (1975) argues the law exists to protect private property and are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy. The law is BIASED in favour of the middle classes and capitalism. For example, property laws against theft, particularly benefit the middle classes because they have more resources. Laws restrict the actions of employees to strike. The law is full of loopholes for the rich, for example, to avoid paying tax. There are few laws limiting the power of businesses. Snider (1993) argues that the capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability.

The Bhopal Disaster

The Bhopal disaster 2nd December 1984 US Company Union Carbide pesticide plant at Bhopal, India started leaking cyanide gas.

Watch the video clip and use the chocolate box to record 8 facts.

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Stretch yourself… Why is Bhopal a good example of the state and law making protecting business?

Selective Enforcement:

Marxists also argue that (as do labelling theorists) that although all social classes commit crime, when it comes to application of the law powerless groups such as the working class and ethnic minorities are criminalised whereas crimes of the powerful are ignored.

3. Ideological Functions of Crime and Deviance:

The law crime and criminals also perform an ideological function for capitalism. Laws are occasionally passed that appear to benefit the working class rather than capitalism such as workplace health and safety laws. However, Pearce (1976) argues that such laws often benefit the ruling classes by keeping the workers ‘fit for work.’

A new law against corporate homicide was passed in 2007, however in its first eight years there was only one successful prosecution.

Because of selective enforcement, crime appears to be a working-class phenomenon. This encourages the working-class to blame criminals for their problems rather than capitalism. The media can also contribute to this by portraying some criminals as being disturbed.

AO3 Evaluation of Marxism – use your own knowledge first and discuss with your partner or in a group what you feel the strengths and weaknesses are then, you can us the textbook (page 89)

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Neo-Marxism: Critical Criminology

Neo-Marxists combine ideas from traditional Marxism with labelling theory (more on that later…) One of the most important contributions from Neo Marxism has been from Taylor, Walton and Young (1973)

Activity: (AO1/2) Read the chapter on page 89 of the textbook and create a grid of the similarities and differences between traditional Marxism and Neo-Marxism.

Similarities Differences

Anti-Determinism:

They argue that Marxism is deterministic, for example it sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessity. They reject this explanation, along with other theories who say that crime is caused by other external factors such as anomie, subcultures or labelling or by biological and psychological factors.

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Instead they discuss and take a more voluntaristic view, in that individuals have free will and crime is a meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor. Criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by the nature of capitalism; they are deliberately striving to change society.

They emphasise the importance of individual liberty and diversity and argue that individuals should not be labelled deviant just because they are different.

Outline and explain the six aspects of Taylor et al’s theory of deviance

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

AO3: Evaluation of the Neo-Marxist approach

Feminists

Left Realists

Burke (2005)

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How have Taylor, Walton and Young changed their views since The New Criminology was published?

Crimes of the Powerful:

The more likely a crime is to be committed by higher class individuals the less likely it is to be treated as an offence - Reiman and Leighton (2012)

Thinking point… why do you think this is? Record your initial ideas below:

White collar crime is defined, ‘a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.’ Sutherland (1949)

The above fails to consider:

Occupational crime - committed by employees simply for their own personal gain, often against the organisation for which they work

Corporate crime - committed by employees for the organisation they work for in pursuit of the company’s goals

Pearce and Tombs (2003) widen this definition:

‘Any illegal act or omission that is a result of deliberate decisions or culpable negligence by a legitimate business that is intended to benefit the business.’

Record examples in the table: You could use your device to find examples of recent corporate crimes. Be prepared to share!

Occupational Crime Corporate crimes

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The Scale and Types of Corporate Crime:

White collar and corporate crime do far more harm than ordinary or ‘street crime’ such as theft or burglary. For example, one estimate puts the costs of white collar crimes in the USA at over ten times that of ordinary crimes.

Tombs notes that corporate crime has enormous costs: physical (deaths, injuries and illnesses), environmental (pollution) and economic (consumers, workers, taxpayers and governments). Corporate crime is ‘widespread, routine and pervasive’.

The following acts are examples of corporate crime:

Financial crimes – tax evasion, bribery, money laundering and illegal accounting

Crimes against consumers – false labelling and selling unfit goods

Research and make notes on: Poly Implant Prothese (PIP)

Crimes against employees – sexual and racial discrimination, violation of wage laws, of rights to join a union or take industrial action, and of health and safety laws

Crimes against the environment – illegal pollution of air, water and land, such as toxic waste dumping

Research and make notes on: 2015 Volkswagen emission scandal

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State-corporate crime – harms committed when government institutions and businesses cooperate to pursue their goals

The Invisibility of Corporate Crime:

Marxists such as Pearce and Box argue that corporate crime is far more damaging than conventional crime because politicians and the government pay little attention to these crimes. Conklin (1977) argued that US business crime caused greater financial loss than any other of conventional theft. In addition, Box argued in Britain there are more deaths and injuries from breaches of law by businesses than conventional murder or manslaughter.

Hughes and Langan (2001) claim that this is due to four main factors:

1) Low Visibility - street crimes such as rape and burglary are highly visible, the media and the law ensures we are aware of any epidemics and the consequences. White collar crimes occur in mainly within offices and are largely hidden from the public gaze. Even when they are pinpointed it is hard to portion the blame to any one person.

2) Complexity – large scale fraud is often highly complex and very hard to unravel and allocate blame. Teams of experts can spend years finding out who is to blame as it often involves different companies. Different parties, different departments and a multitude of transactions

3) Diffusion of Responsibility - it is difficult to apportion blame, take the Thalidomide scandal for e.g. here were so many different people involved it was very hard to blame one particular person

4) Diffusion of Victimisation – this refers to victimless crimes. There are no obvious victims involved here less likely individuals will pursue claims

Other reasons as to why corporate crime is ignored is because:

The media give very little coverage to corporate crime, thus reinforcing the stereotype that crime is a working-class phenomenon. They describe corporate crime in sanitised language, as technical infringements rather than real crime

Lack of political will to tackle corporate crime. When they discuss being ‘tough on crime’ this relates to street crime rather than crimes of the powerful

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De-labelling – at the levels of laws and legal regulation, corporate crime is often filtered out from the process of criminalisation. For example, offences are often defined as civil and not criminal, and even in criminal cases, penalties are often fines rather than jail

Explanations of Corporate Crime:

Sociologists have put forward a variety of explanations for white-collar and corporate crime. Summarise the four main arguments in the grid below. Use page 93/94 of the text book to help you.

THEORY EXPLANATIONStrain theory

Differential association

Labelling theory

Marxism

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The Relationship Between Social Class and Crime:

Match up each theory to the correct explanation:

THEORY EXPLANATIONFunctionalism They reject official statistics and believe that they are

socially constructed – they do not give a valid picture of which class commits the most crime. The working class are more likely to be labelled as criminal as law enforcement agencies sees the working class as ‘typical criminals’

Strain theory People engage in deviant behaviour when their opportunities are blocked. Merton argues that working-class people are denied the opportunity to achieve money success through legitimate means and so they experience strain.

Subcultural theory They believe that capitalism creates crime and the working class commit crime because they are driven in to poverty and this is the only way to survive. They also commit non-utilitarian crimes in response to the alienating work experiences they suffer. They argue that the statistics ignore crimes of the powerful and that people of a higher class position do commit crime as capitalism encourages a ‘dog eat dog’ world where the pursuit of profit is the most important goal above all else

Labelling theory Cohen sees working class youths as culturally deprived – they have not been socialised in to the mainstream, middle class culture. As a result they suffer from status frustration and join a subculture with an alternative status hierarchy

Marxism They see statistics as real and they reflect real differences in offending. The working class are more likely to commit crimes and there are two types of realism, with different views as to why. Right realists believe the working class commit crime because of inadequate socialisation and biological factors. Whereas left realists believe the working class commit more crime because of marginalisation, subcultures and relative deprivation

Realism They see the laws as a reflection of society’s shared values and crime as the product of inadequate or inappropriate socialisation in to these values. In modern societies with their complex division of labour, different groups develop their own subculture. The lower class has developed an

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independent subculture that is in distinct opposition to mainstream culture and this is why this group has a higher crime rate

Quick Check Questions:

1. Identify three ways in which capitalism is ‘criminogenic.’

2. Explain how crime and the law perform ‘ideological’ functions.

3. Explain the difference between deterministic and voluntarist views of behaviour

4. Explain what the term ‘selective enforcement’ means and give an example.

5. Identify the similarities and differences between Marxism and Neo-Marxism

6. Explain the difference between white collar and corporate crimes

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7. Why do crimes of the powerful go ignored?

Key Concepts:

Key Concept DefinitionCriminogenic Capitalism

Selective Enforcement

State and Law Making

Ideological Functions

Alienation

White Collar Crime

Corporate Crime

Critical Criminology

Anti-Determinism

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Exam Technique:

Outline two ways in which the law may perform an ideological function for capitalism (4 marks)

Outline three reasons why white collar and corporate crime may have lower rates of prosecution (6 Marks)

Item

The different agencies of the criminal justice system, such as the police and the courts, are responsible for processing individuals who are suspected of committing crimes. Some individuals may also have greater motivation or pressure to offend, or have more opportunity to do so.

Applying material from Item, analyse two reasons for social class differences in official crime statistics (10 marks)

POINT ONE –

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POINT TWO –

Item

Marxism sees capitalist society as divided along social class lines. The ruling class own the means of production and use their power to exploit the working class in pursuit of profits, often resulting in workers living in poverty. This relationship then determines the shape of the superstructure – that is, all other institutions that make up society, including the state, the law and the criminal justice system. Capitalism is also intensely competitive, with companies and individuals motivated to seek profits.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which Marxists see class and crime as related (10 marks)

POINT ONE –

POINT TWO –

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Item

Some Marxist sociologists argue that crime and deviance are caused by the capitalist structure of society. The law reflects ruling class ideology, protecting the bourgeoisie interests and maintaining social order in society. Capitalism creates an environment where crime is inevitable according to Marxists.

Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the usefulness of Marxist approaches in explaining crime and deviance (30)

Item

Some sociologists focus on the ‘crimes of the powerful’. Crimes committed in the interests of businesses and other large institutions can be far more harmful and costly than the street crimes that we tend to think of as ‘real crime’. Corporate crime can involve breaking criminal laws, but may also include breaking other kinds of law. Some sociologists argue that corporate crime results from the pressure to succeed, leading employees pursuing business aims by legitimate means. However, others claim it is the product of capitalism.

Applying material from the Item and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of corporate crime (30 marks)

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Independent Study Checklist:

Activity Tick when doneComplete an A3 revision sheet for this topic

Create revision cards/key cards for the concepts in this topic

Research task: look further in to the Bhopal disaster and create a fact sheet about this

Research task: look further in to the Volkswagen emissions scandal and create a fact sheet about this

Read the Sociology Review article (in the extended reading file in the Sociology file on Weebly) – Official Crime Statistics and make a mind map about this article

Look at the BSA Discover Sociology website for Social Class and Crime and summarise this on post-it noteshttp://www.discoversociology.co.uk/crime/social-class-and-crime

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