Neo-marxism

Used as criticism against Marxism

(NM) Critical Criminology

The neo-marxist's approach to crime

(NM) Ethnic Minorities - Hall

Scapegoating minorities, the focus on minorities commiting crime is only to divert attention away from the atrocities of the upper classes. This preserves hegemony. i.e. Hall focused on the 1970s economic crisis, politicians neglected their duties and instead created a MORAL PANIC about street muggings by black men. Therefore, the black men became scapegoats.

(NM) Anti-Deterministic - Taylor, Walton and Young

Argue that Marxism is too deterministic Crime is not determined by capitalism (poverty or inequality) but it is a conscious act of free will or agency. This is because the offender is responding to their own material circumstances

Taylor et al

Produced a fully social theory of crime and deviance combining Marxism and interactionism

Taylor et al's 6 Key aspects of Crime

1. Wider origins of the deviant act

2. The immediate origins of the deviant act

3. The act itself

4. The immediate origins of social reaction

5. The wider origins of social reaction

6. The effects of labelling

Taylor - 1. Wider origins of the deviant act

(in the unequal distribution of wealth and power in capitalist society)

Taylor - 2. The immediate origins of the deviant act

The particular context in which the individual decides to commit the act

Taylor - 3. The act itself

(and its meaning for the actor) i.e was it a form of rebelling against capitalism

Taylor - 4. The immediate origins of social reaction

Reaction of those around the deviant to discovering the deviance, i.e family, community, police

Taylor - 5. The wider origins of social reaction

?

Taylor - 6. The effects of labelling

Why did labelling lead to deviance amplification in some cases but not in others? Deviants future actions.

(NM) Romanticism of the Working Class Criminal

• Evidence shows most crime is inter-class

Laws as concessions to the working class - Pearce

Moral panics to scapegoat minorities - Hall

Selective Law Creation - Cortez