Taylor, Walton and Young (Neo-Marxist)

The New Criminology:

  • Inspired by both traditional Marxist ideas and the ideas of labelling theory

  • Social structures shaped criminal behaviour, however, individuals could demonstrate agency

  • Saw criminals as victims of social stigma and actively resisting elements of capitalism

  • Taylor, Walton and Young (1973)- developed the concept of a fully social theory of deviance

  • Developed a more holistic approach to researching deviance, seeing deviance as being influenced by both structural forces and individual agency

Considerations of Fully Social Theory:

  • Wider origins of deviant act

  • Immediate origins of social reaction

  • Immediate origins of the deviant act

  • Wider origins of social reaction

  • The actual act of deviance

  • Impact of social reactions on future behaviour

Consideration of Fully Social Theory:

  • Wider origins of deviant acts - this refers to the power structures in society and social inequality

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    • Immediate origins of the deviant act - particular circumstances that have caused the person to commit a crime

  • The actual act of deviance - what was the meaning of the act for the individual

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    • Immediate origins of social reaction - the reactions of those connected with the individual - how do they react to deviant acts?

Hall et al: Policing the crisis:

  • The ruling class is normally able to rule subordinate classes through consent but this becomes more difficult in times of crisis

  • the 1970s saw the emergence of media-driven moral panic about a 'new' crime called mugging

  • No evidence for an increase in this type of crime

  • Black mugger became the symbol of the disintegration of society and divided the working-class on ethnic grounds

  • Racist police labelled black people more easily than any other group.

Evaluations:

  • Hall's Policing the Crisis adopted Fully Social Theory to explain the negative portrayal of black criminality

  • Idealistic - it suggests that crime is motivated by a desire to get revenge against inequalities in society

  • Does not explain why crime is mostly committed against other working-class individuals