Crime and Deviance - Marxist approach

Gordon

Crime is a rational response to the capitalist system. It is found in all classes, although statistics and media framing make it seem like a WC problem.

Chambliss

Laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy

Sinder

There are few laws that seriously challenge the unequal distribution of wealth. The capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws which regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability.

Pearce - functions of the crime and law

Laws that appear to be for the benefit of workers often benefit the ruling class too - e.g. statutory sick pay which keeps workers fit for work. This gives capitalism a caring face and creates false consciousness among the workers (don't realise they're being exploited).

Jenabi - agree with Pearce

Corporate homicide laws are rarely enforced. In 8 years there has only been 1 successful prosecution despite the large numbers of deaths at work caused by employers' negligence.

Taylor, Walton and Young - the new criminology (neo-Marxism)

Marxism is deterministic: crime is a voluntaristic action. Criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by capitalism, instead they are deliberately striving to change society. The theory of deviance needs to unite 6 interrelated aspects:

1. wider origins of the act.

2. immediate origins of the act.

3. the act.

4. the immediate origins of social reaction.

5. the wider origins of social reaction.

6. the effects of labelling.

Criticism of Taylor et al

Romanticises WC criminals as 'Robin Hoods' who want to make a difference, when in reality most crime is WC on WC.

Hopkins Burke: too general to explain crime, and too idealistic to be useful in tackling crime.

Reiman and Leighton

CJS takes a more forgiving view on crimes of the powerful

Sutherland - white collar crime

A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in their occupation.

Eval: definition fails to distinguish between occupational (for personal gain) and corporate (for the organisation's gain) crimes.

Many crimes of the powerful don't break criminal law.

Pearce and Tombs - better corporate crime definition

Any illegal act or omission that is the result of deliberate decisions or culpable negligence by a legitimate business organisation and that is intended to benefit the business.

Tombs: corporate crime has enormous costs and is widespread, routine and pervasive.

Tombs - administrative vs criminal law

Difference between them is more about who has the power to define the act as a crime, rather than how harmful the act is. Powerful corporations can influence the law so that their actions are not criminalised.

Kramer and Michalowski - state-corporate crimes

Crimes committed when government institutions and businesses cooperate to pursue their own goals.

e.g. private companies contracted to the US military have been accused of involvement in the torture of detainees during the American occupation of Iraq.

Carrabine et al

The power of high-status individuals gives them to the opportunity to abuse the trust we give them.

Sikka: tax avoidance scheme by accountants Ernst and Young have cost the taxpayer over £300 million per year.

Box - strain theories and companies

If a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may innovate and employ illegal ones instead. Corporations are criminogenic: if they find that legitimate means for profit are blocked, they'll resort to illegitimate techniques.

Clinard and Yeager

Law violations by companies increased as their financial performance deteriorated. This represents companies' willingness to innovate to achieve profit goals.

Skyes and Matza - techniques of neutralisation

Firms can deviate more easily if they can produce justifications to neutralise moral objections to their misbehaviour.

Cicourel

MC more able to negotiate non-criminal labels for their misbehaviour.

Nelken - delabelling

Unlike the poor, businesses and professionals often have the power to avoid labelling as they can afford expensive lawyers and accountants.

Box - mystification

Capitalism has created a mystification that corporate crime is less harmful and widespread than WC crime. Capitalism's control of the state enables it to avoid creating laws which conflict with its interests.

Pearce

Capitalism controls who gets charged with crimes, giving the illusion that it's the exception rather than the norm = avoids creating a crisis of legitimacy for capitalism.

Braithwaite

Law abiding ma be more profitable than law breaking. US pharmaceutical companies that complied with FDA regulations to obtain licenses for their products were able to access lucrative markets in NEEs and LIDCs.