neomarxism

• What do taylor et al criticise?

  Marxist and non-Marxist ideologies
• Why do Taylor et al criticise these?

  • Traditional Marxism ignored the idea that individuals have free will
  • Marxism sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessity
  • They reject this view along with others that claim crime is caused by external factors eg anomie
• Voluntarism?


  • Taylor et al
  • Crime is a conscious choice with a political motive (Robin Hood)
  • Criminals are deliberately struggling to change society
  • Emphasise liberty, diversity and need for a classless society
  • Individuals should not be labelled deviant because they are different, they should be free to live as they wish
• What do neomarxists argue about crimes against property?

  • Theft/burgulary are a reaction to wealth inequality
  • Vandalism is a symbolic attack on societies' obsession with property
• Stuart Hall - Policing the crisis?

  • Study of moral panics in the 1970s - black mugger
• Hall - 'a crisis of capitalism'?

  • moral panic was built to establish a common enemy
  • Hall's 'full social theory of deviance' saw the Black mugger as a scapegoat for other social ills of the period
• Black mugger - societal reaction?

  • stop and search
  • labelling of black youth led to deviancy amplification
• Why are Hall's ideas so revolutionary?

  Merges labelling, societal reaction, moral panics and deviancy amplification into a 'social theory of deviance'
• Gilroy?


  Rejected the view that Blacks' resorted to crime due to poor socialisation, instead a result of ethnic minorities defending themselves against an unjust society
• Criticism of Taylor et al?

  Feminists: it is 'gender blind', focusing on male criminality at the expense of female criminality

  Most victims of W/C and black crime are W/C and crime
• Criticism of neo-marxism?


  Left realists: romanticises WC criminals as 'Robin Hoods'

  In reality, these criminals prey on the poor
• Evaluation of critical criminology?

  Burke: critical criminology is too general to explain crime and too idealistic to be used in tackling crime

  Difficult to imagine a political motive underpinning crimes such as domestic violence/rape and child abuse
• In what way does Neo-Marxism agree with traditional Marxism?

  Capitalist society is based on exploitation and class conflict which is key to understanding crime
• How does Neo-Marxism differ from traditional Marxism?

  Rejects deterministic approach of traditional marxism and see crime as a conscious choice by the actor
• What did Taylor et al come up with to explain crime?

  A fully social theory of deviance