1. Marxist Theories of Crime and
Deviance

2. Lesson Objectives
• Introduce Marxist theories of C&D
• Compare and Contrast Marxists theories to
that of Interactionists and Functionalists
• Evaluate Marxist theories of C&D

3. Last Lesson Recap
• Summarise the Interactionists theory of C&D
using no more 100 words

4. Marxist view of crime and
deviance
They both are!!!!
Which one is the criminal?

5. Something to think about.........
Question 1: Why do you think the crimes of the
powerful are ‘under-policed, rarely prosecuted or
punished’?
Question 2: Why should ‘little or no state welfare
provision’ lead to higher crime rates?
Headquarters of the energy company
Enron, one of America’s leading
corporations until it went bankrupt in 2001
amid financial scandal >

6. Recap Traditional Marxism
• What do we already know about Marxists?
• Ruling Capital Class (Bourgeoisie)
• Means of production
• Working Class (Proletariat)
• Marxism is a structural theory- society is a structure in which
the economic base (capitalist economy) determines the shape
of the superstructure (made up of all the institutions)
• Marxists are critical criminologists- a theoretical perspective
in criminology which sees crime as a product of oppression
• Conflict criminology claims that crime is inevitable in
capitalist societies, as invariably certain groups will become
marginalised and unequal

7. Activity: Are Marxist ideas still relevant today ?’

8. Traditional Marxist approaches argued that:
Crime is generated by the structure of capitalist
society – crime’s inevitable in societies where
some are richer than others
Capitalism’s forced her
to commit crime.

10. • The structure of Capitalist Society explains
Crime. The view of Crime has 3 main
elements:
1.Criminogenic Capitalism
2.The state and law making
3.Ideological functions of crime and law

11. Capitalism is
criminogenic - it makes
crime inevitable.
Criminogenic: Producing or tending to produce crime or criminality

13. Class inequality in a
capitalist economic
system is a major cause
of crime.

14. Mr Chav nicks stuff advertised on
telly cos he can’t afford to buy it.

15. But why is crime a working class thing?
Capitalism is based on the exploitation of
the WC for profit

17. It's because middle class
crime is ignored...
...so it looks as if the
working class are the
criminal ones.

18. • Read the section on crimogenic capitalism on page 87 of the
Crime and Deviance. Briefly explain what is crimogenic about
capitalism, and which social classes it applies to.
AO2 POINT?
Explain the crimogenic nature of the following things:

19. Gordon (1976) argues crime is a rational
response to capitalism and therefore is found in
all classes

20. The state and
law making
• Marxists see law making and enforcement as serving
the interests of capitalist class. Chambliss (1975)
argues that laws to protect private property are the
basis of the capitalist economy
• Read the two case studies (activity 3), from a Marxist
point of view, what do they suggest about the
process of law creation in capitalist societies ?
• The ruling class have the power to prevent the
introduction of laws harmful to their interest. Few
laws challenge the unequal distribution of wealth

21. YOU SCRATCH MY BACK;
I'LL SCRATCH YOURS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qMJAlZnOqQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVxRH1xQ9cY

22. Marxists argue the law is
SELECTIVE.

23. One law for one...
One law for another.

24. Tax evasion is rarely
prosecuted but social
security fraud is ALWAYS
prosecuted.

25. Selective Enforcement
• All classes commit crime however there is
selective enforcement of the law- there is bias in
favour of those at the top.
Sally Clarke was jailed for life, convicted of murdering two of her three children. She was
released on appeal because the evidence was dodgy. She died in March 2007, a broken woman.

26. This is Nestle – they make Milky Bars, Yorkie Bars and Cheerios.
They aggressively marketed baby milk formula in developing countries in the
70s, 80s and 90s.
Their formula killed thousands of babies because of the contaminated water it
was mixed with; led to higher birth rate because of depriving women of their
natural contraception during breast feeding.
They have never faced charges or been made to account for their actions.

27. Claims of pure orange
But did not contain
Recent statistics show that 1/3 corporate crime
discovered due to tip offs rather than investigation

29. Marxists argue the
crimes of the middle
class are...

30. UNDER-POLICED
UNDER-PUNISHED
&
UNDER-ESTIMATED.

31. • Reiman (2001) suggests that crimes of the
powerful are much less likely to be treated as
criminal offences and prosecuted.
• There are higher rates of prosecution for the
kinds of ‘street crimes’ that poor people typically
commit e.g. Burglary and assault. Yet crimes
committed by higher classes e.g. Serious tax
evasion the CJS takes a more forgiving view of.
• Carson (1971) in a sample of 200 firms, found all
had broken health and safety laws yet only 1.5%
of cases were prosecuted.

32. Ideological Functions of Crime and Law
• Crime and the law perform ideological functions for
capitalism
• Some laws benefit workers e.g. health and safety. However
Pearce (1976) argues that these also benefit capitalism. By
giving it a ‘caring’ face, the create false consciousness
• Because the state enforces the law selectively, crime
appears to be largely WC. This divides the WC, encouraging
workers to blame WC criminals for their problems, rather
than capitalism
• Selective Enforcement distorts the crime statistics. By
making crime appear largely WC, it shifts attention from
more serious ruling class crime

33. Activity 4: Evaluating Marxist
theories

34. • Summarise Traditional Marxists
viewpoints of C&D

35. Brief summary of Marxist explanations of crime.
CAPITALISM = GREED, COMPETITION & SELF-
SEEKING.
GREED, COMPETITION & SELF-
SEEKING = DIVISION BETWEEN
RICH AND POOR.
DIVISION BETWEEN RICH AND POOR = INEQUALITY.
INEQUALITY = INJUSTICE, ENVY & FRUSTRATION.
INJUSTICE, ENVY & FRUSTRATION = CRIMINAL AND DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR.
SO CAPITALISM = CRIME.

36. Homework
Find answers to the following:
1. What is meant by the term ‘white-collar crime’?
2. What is ‘corporate crime’?
3. Find three examples of corporate crime.
4. What is ‘occupational crime’?
5. Find three examples of occupational crime.
6. How might it be argued that white-collar crime is more costly to society than
street crime?
7. Some argue that white-collar crime is less important than street crime
because there are often no direct victims. Suggest three ways in which people
may be indirect victims of white collar crime.
8. Identify two types of white-collar crime that do have direct victims.
9. Some prosecutions for white-collar crime arise as the result of ‘accidents’ at
work, caused by cutting corners or negligence. When does an ‘accident’
become a crime?