Neo-Marxism & Critical Criminology

Cards (17)

  • What term is used for Marxists who adapt Marx's ideas?
    Neo-Marxists
  • What do neo-Marxists recognize about working-class criminals?
    They make an active choice to break the law
  • How did neo-Marxists view criminal acts by groups like the Black Panthers?
    As positive political acts against the bourgeoisie
  • What is the term for the neo-Marxist approach to crime and deviance?
    Critical criminology
  • What did Young and Taylor's The New Criminology aim to establish?
    A fully social theory of deviance
  • What factors should Marxists consider regarding deviant acts according to Young and Taylor?
    • Structure of society and power
    • Structural "macro" background
    • Immediate cause of the act
    • Impact of the act (immediate and larger scale)
    • Societal reaction to the act
    • Impact of that reaction on individuals and society
  • How does the neo-Marxist approach incorporate interactionism?
    Through concepts like labelling in crime
  • Who applied critical criminology to black muggers in the 1970s UK?
    Stuart Hall
  • What economic condition did Hall associate with black muggers?
    A crisis of capitalism
  • What did some black individuals choose to do during unemployment according to Hall?
    Enter the informal economy involving crime
  • How did the ruling class attempt to prevent anti-capitalist activism?
    By dividing the working class along racial lines
  • What was the societal reaction to the moral panic about black street crime?
    A police crackdown and crime wave fantasy
  • What was one consequence of the moral panic according to Hall?
    It prevented revolutionary political change
  • What are some criticisms of neo-Marxism and critical criminology?
    • Limited politically-motivated crime
    • Most crime victims are working class
    • Solutions to crime are needed, not just understanding
    • Hall's theory seen as a conspiracy theory
  • What do left realists argue regarding crime victims?
    Most victims are working class individuals
  • Why is Hall's theory about black muggers considered a conspiracy theory?
    No proof of deliberate class division exists
  • What did Hall acknowledge about the media's sensationalism of crime?
    It sold newspapers rather than prevented revolutions