Class, Power and Crime

• In a nutshell


  Marxists believe crime is inevitable in a capitalist society because it encourages poverty, competition and greed. Although all classes commit crime, the working class are largely criminalised for their actions because the ruling class control the state and can make and enforce laws in their own interests. In this instance, white collar and corporate crimes are often ignored.
• Marxism - CRIMINOGENIC CAPITALISM

  Marxists believe that capitalism is criminogenic - by its very nature, it causes crime. Poverty (caused be capitalism) may mean that crime is the only way the working class can survive. Crime also may be the only way the working class can obtain consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft. Alienation and lack of control may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes such as violence and vandalism.
• Marxism - THE STATE AND LAW MAKING


  Chambliss state that laws to protect private property are a cornerstone of the capitalist economy.​

  Snider argues that capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability.
• Marxism - SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT

  Marxists believe that although all classes commit crime, when it comes to application of the law by the criminal justice system, there is selective enforcement. While powerless groups such as the working class and ethnic minorities are criminalised, the police and court tend to ignore the crimes of the powerful.
• Marxism - IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS

  Pearce theorises that laws give capitalism a ‘caring’ face, and create a false consciousness among workers. This is because the state enforces the law selectively, crime appears to be largely a working-class phenomenon. This divides working class due to how it encourages workers to blame criminals in their midst for their problems, rather than capitalism.
• NEO-MARXISM - Taylor et al

  Taylor et al criticise Marxists for economic determinism and instead see crime as meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor. In particular, they argue that crime often has a political motive (for instance, to redistribute wealth from the rich to poor). Criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by capitalism: they are deliberately striving to change society.
• Marxism - Taylor et al a fully social theory of deviance

  1.The wider origins of the deviant act - the unequal distribution of power in capitalist society

  2. Immediate origins of the deviant act - the context in which the individual decides to commit the act

  3. The act itself - its meaning
• Marxism - Taylor et al a fully social theory of deviance

  4. Immediate origins of social reaction - the reactions of those around the deviant act

  5. The wider origins of societal reaction - who has the power to define actions as deviant and to label others, and why some acts are treated more harshly than others

  6. The effects of labelling - what effects does the deviant at have on the future actions
• Invisibility of CORPORATE CRIME - the media


  give very limited coverage to corporate, thus reinforcing the stereotype that crime is a working-class phenomenon
• Invisibility of CORPORATE CRIME - Lack of political will to tackle corporate crime

   politicians rhetoric of being ‘tough on crime’ only applies to street crime.​
• Invisibility of CORPORATE CRIME - Crimes are complex


  law enforcers are often understaffed, under-resourced and lack technical expertise.
• Invisibility of CORPORATE CRIME - Delabelling 

  at the level of laws and legal regulations, corporate crime is consistently filtered out from the process of criminalisation.​
• Invisibility of CORPORATE CRIME - Under-reported

  individuals may be unaware they have been victimised.
• Explanations of CORPORATE CRIME - Box

  Box argues that if a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may employ illegal ones instead.
• Explanations of CORPORATE CRIME - DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION​

  Sutherland sees crime as behaviour learned from others in a social context. The less we associate with people who hold attitudes favourable to the law and the more we associate with people with criminal attitudes, the more likely we are to become deviant ourselves.
• Explanations of CORPORATE CRIME -  LABELLING THEORY​

  Cicourel argues that typically, the working class are more likely to have their actions labelled as criminal. The middle class are more able to negotiate non-criminal labels for their misbehaviour.