Marxist and Critical Criminologies

?
  • Created by: 11pyoung
  • Created on: 28-01-18 18:18
View mindmap
  • Marxist and Critical Criminologies
    • The traditional Marxist approach
      • The basis of the criminal law
        • All laws benefit the ruling class
          • Criminal law reflects their interest
        • Criminal law reflects their interest
        • Protects the rich and powerful
        • Laureen Snider
          • In capitalist societies, laws that threaten the big corporations by undermining their profits are rarely passed
      • Law and ruling class ideology
        • Ruling class impose their values on the mass of the population
      • Evaluation
        • Comparison with functionalism
          • Avoids a number of weaknesses of the functionalist approach
            • Does not assume that laws benefit all members of society
            • The criminal justice system can be manipulated by the powerful and can reflect their economic interests
            • Functionalists are not clear on what an ideal society would look like
        • Comparison with interactionism
          • Takes into account labelling
          • Has more developed model of social structure
        • Strengths
          • It looks at the causes of crime, criminalisation and social structure and social action/agency
            • Well-rounded theory
        • Weaknesses
          • Reductive
          • Says little about the process of labelling
      • Bonger (1916)
      • Law enforcement and harm
        • Law can be beneficial to everyone should it be applied fairly
        • Biased in favour of the ruling class
        • Laureen Snider
          • Corporate crime does far more economic and physical damage than 'street crime'
        • White collar crimes are often not prosecuted because many are hard to detect
      • The causes of offending
        • Chambliss
          • Capitalism is based on competition, selfishness and greed
            • Crime is a natural outcome of these values
      • Crime and control
        • Crime diverts attention away from the exploitative nature of capitalism
    • Neo-Marxist and Critical crimonolgy
      • Neo-Marxist subcultural theory
        • Evaluation
          • Stan Cohen
            • Writers were biased in their analysis
              • Fixed evidence to prove their hypithesis
          • Blackman
            • Emphasis on working class subcultures ignore variance of subcultures based on other factors
        • Capitalism maintains control over the majority of the population by:
          • Ideological dominance through the media
          • Economic pressure
            • Mortgages
        • Only the groups on the edges of society  can fight against this ideology and resist capitalism
        • Brake
          • Resistance is expressed through working-class subcultures
      • The New Crimonology
        • Policing the crisis
          • Stuart Hall
          • Muggings
        • Evaluation
          • Paul Rock
            • Gives a heavily romantised version of crime
          • Pat Carlen
            • No specific discussion of the power of the patriarchy
        • Taylor, Walton and Young
    • Critical criminology
      • An overview of Marxist or critical criminological approaches
        • Provided a counterbalance to explanations of crime that focus on the individual, their family or their immediate community
        • Forced sociologists to explore wider social factors
      • Existing societies and justice systems are unfair and exploitative and in need of change
      • Does not accept existing laws as being just and as an objective measure of social harm

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Sociology resources:

See all Sociology resources »See all Crime and deviance resources »