Traditional Marxism and crime and deviance

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Slide 1

Traditional Marxism and crime and deviance

Crime is a product of poverty

Crime is brought about by capitalism

Slide 2

Manipulation of values

Manipulation of the basic values and morality of a society

Society is dominated and controlled by those at the helm

Control is maintained via the socialisation process and threat

Slide 3

Manipulation of values

VALUES OF FREEDOM

SELF-INTEREST

COMPETITION

Slide 4

Law creation

Functionalists: law reflects the will of the people

Marxists: law is a reflection of the will of the powerful

As economic power guarantees political and social power, the rich can manipulate the rest of us and pass laws that benefit them

They ‘set the agenda’

Slide 5

LAW CREATION

Public Order and Criminal Justice Act (1994)

Takes away civil liberties from the majority and limits the powers of the protest

Since 9/11, a raft of Anti-Terror legislation has been enacted, limiting freedoms we once took for granted.

Like the Prevention of Terrorism Act (designed to combat the IRA during the 1970s), it has been enforced against many others, criminalising people engaged in simple acts of protest.

Slide 6

Law enforcement

‘Street crime’ is more likely to be pursued by police than ‘white collar’ crime

Intensified policing and punishment of poorer individuals and communities

The poor are filtered into the criminal justice system while the rich are filtered out

Slide 7

Individual motivation for crime

In capitalist societies the cultural stress in on competition, not cooperation, and the acquisition of wealth

Desire for money can lead those who are blocked off from legitimate chances of gaining wealth to turn to criminal methods (anomie)

Greed is built into the capitalist system

Slide 8

Criticisms

Left idealism

Ignore the consequences for the victims of street crime

Street crime tends to be intra-class, not inter-class

Slide 9

CRITICISMS

Seems to suggest that the high rate of recorded crime among the working class, youth and blacks is solely the outcome of biased policing