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Summary AC 2.3 Sociological theories of crime
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Summary of sociological theories of crime and evaluation (AC 3.2)
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AC 2.3 Social theories Describe theories of crimeSociological theories
Social structure theories
Key terms
Marxist: Structural theory(an unequal structure within capitalist society= criminality, and how
society deals with it). Someone who supports the political and economic theories of Karl Marx.
They believe that capitalism is unequal and undemocratic democratic being based on the
exploitation of the lower working class (proletariat) by the capitalist ruling upper class
(bourgeoise)
Capitalism: The social system in which the means for producing and rest distributing goods (the
country’s Trade and Industry) are controlled by a small minority of people for profit (the
capitalist class). Most of the people sell their ability to work in return for a wage or salary
(proletariat)
Marxism
Marxists essentially view crime as being inevitable in a capitalist society and is
used by the ruling class, or bourgeoisie, as a means of social control. If someone
does not conform, then they will be punished. Institutions such as the police, the
justice system, prisons, schools, the family and religion are there to encourage
you to conform. They argue that white-collar crimes, which tend to be committed
by the more powerful in society, are ignored, whilst crimes committed by the less
powerful in society, such as burglary and street crime, are focused on and
deemed more severe.
Marxists would also argue that different social classes are polished differently,
with the working class or proletarian being heavily policed in the expectation that
they will be more criminal and therefore increasing the chances of their crimes
being detected. In addition, Marxists also argue that when it comes to crime,
government statistics are fabricated to suit their purposes and get public support
for any action taken by the government which, may be constructed as trespassing
on freedoms. Marxists believe that on average 42% of the statistics presented by
the government are false and misleading (invalid/not accurate).
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, AC 2.3 Social theories Describe theories of crime
Capitalism causes crime as it is a criminogenic system (crime-causing system):
exploitation of working-class people drives them into poverty, hence, the only
way to survive is through crime.
Consumerism: Capitalism pushes consumer goods at people via advertising-
resulting in utilitarian crimes (theft, mugging) to obtain them.
Inequality causes alienation and frustration, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes
(anti-social behaviour, violence, and vandalism). Capitalism is a dog-eat-dog
system and profit-making results in greed. Hence, capitalists commit corporate
crimes such as tax evasion and breaking health and safety laws or fraud.
3.2 Strength Weakness
It shows how poverty and inequality can It focuses on class and largely ignores the
cause working-class crime, and how relationship between crime and other
capitalism promotes greed and encourages inequalities (ethnicity and gender)
upper-class crime(crime of the powerful) It's over predicts the amount of working-
It shows how both law-making and law class crime: not all poor people turn to
enforcement are biased against the working crime
class and in favour of the powerful. Not all capitalist societies have high crime
rates (Japan)
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