Planning the ‘Marxist’ deviance essay

What to think about…

• How do Marxist view society (theory background)?

• How does the Marxist approach ‘contrast’ with other approaches (similarities/differences)?

• What does the Marxist approach offer that is new?

• What different issues do the Marxists focus on regarding deviance?

• What studies are essential?

• How can the Marxists be criticised?

1. Basic concepts

• Class conflict

• Exploitation

• Ruling class ideology

• Conditioning

• False consciousness

• Social control

2. What key things do Marxists explore in terms of deviance?Manipulation of values

How what we define as deviant (and who we see as deviant) is moulded by ruling class ideology.

Laws as an instrument of the ruling class

Who benefits? How do laws help protect the interests of the powerful? How do laws help to control the working class?

Invisibility of white collar crime

How the powerful commit crimes for personal gain and how they harm ordinary people but escape conviction. Why are these invisible? How does this question the usefulness of crime statistics? How does this challenge earlier theories?

Capitalism causes crime

How the values at the heart of capitalist society drive people to criminal behaviour (normal). How inequality causes frustration.

Selective policing

How the police focus on working class crime. Think about links to white collar crime and how it is ‘un-policed’

Neo-Marxists to follow

3.Contrasting with other theoriesTraditional Marxism

Functionalism Subcultural Labelling

What society sees as deviant

Types of deviance explored

The nature of laws

Causes of crime

Enforcement of laws

Role of media

Relationshipbetween class and crime

Subcultures

Usefulness of official crime statistics

4. Key studies/thinkers

• Manipulation of values – Chambliss

• Law as an instrument of the ruling class – Chambliss/Snider/ Althusser/Mannheim/Box

• White Collar Crime – Croall/Sutherland/Wells/Mars/Levi/ Doyal/Mannheim

• Capitalism causes crime – Gordon/Chambliss

• Selective Policing - Gordon

5. Evaluation

Contributions Weaknesses/Ignore

NEO-MARXIST THEORIES

• Show how these were a development from earlier Marxism. What did they retain? What did they Change?

• New Criminology (1973)

• New Left Realism (1984)

New Criminology

Emerged 1973

Thinkers Taylor, Walton & YoungGilroyHallPhil Cohen

Main idea • Blended labelling and Marxism.• How capitalism is the backdrop to deviance, but

need to look at individual – motives/perception of society/ choices.

• Concern for bias in the media (stereotyping) and moral panics. Social control to deal with crisis in hegemony.

• Selective policing. Can’t trust crime statistics.• Crime is political (symbolic resistance)• Major focus on ethnicity and crime

Other idea • Youth subcultures (symbolic resistance)Skinheads/punks/football hooliganism/rastas

New Left Realism

Emerged 1984

Thinkers Lea & Young

Main idea • Crime is a real problem (rely on statistics more).• Reflected on British Crime Survey 1983 – victims.• Riots were a concern/ethnicity and crime• Crime is not symbolic• Crime is caused by capitalism

Key causes of crime

Relative deprivationSubcultureMarginalisation

6. StructureIntroduction

Different approaches to crime…blame individual (values, frustration), blame society (causing poverty, labelling etc). Marxists are a conflict theory that is less trusting of our laws/police…and focused on how crime is natural to capitalism/the powerful use laws to benefit themselves etc

Basic Marxist background

just show awareness – short paragraph..indicate basic theoretical contrast (very brief)

Manipulation of values

Explore this and contrast with functionalist view of origins of laws/ shared values etc (quite short)

Laws serve ruling class

Present this argument with examples. Contrast with functionalist view. (medium)

White collar crime

Begin with Funct view that crime is working class. Crime statistics as proof. Caused by values, frustration etc. then explore what white collar crime is, levels of damage, types and why hard to detect. DEAL WITH CRIME STATISTICS ISSUE HERE (like labelling, Marxists lack faith in stats because of selectivity/invisibility – this may need a separate paragraph for methodology) (detailed/long)

Capitalism causing crime

Present and show how similar to Merton etc but critical of capitalist economy and inequality (brief)

Selective Policing

Present (show how similar to labelling) but how funct disagree (brief)

Critique of trad Marxism

.outline main weaknesses/ignores (medium)

New Criminology

Present theory and how overcomes some of trad Marxist criticisms.

Pick up on labelling links – media/self-concept etc

Attend to subcultural theory (and brief contrast to funct subcult) (medium)

New Left Realism

Present – show how it developed from NC and show similarities to funct…but in a Marxist framework (brief)

Neo-Marxist critique

Outline main weaknesses/ignores (brief)

Overall evaluation

Summarise key contributions…how it helps us…but contrast to others and say what it doesn’t help so much with…is it still relevant? PoMo? (brief/medium)