MARXIST THEORY ON
CRIME
How do Marxists explain crime?
Connector
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
In pairs, discuss:
Who was Robin Hood?
Who did he steal from?
Why did he steal?
How did the authorities try to deal with him?
Do you think that today’s criminals are
modern-day Robin Hoods?
Objectives
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All to be able to outline the Marxist theory on crime by
explaining why people commit crime using key concepts
such as capitalism, materialism and consumerism.
Most to be able to explain why the ruling class also
commit crime, but get away with it while the working
class get caught.
Some to be able to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of an essay on this topic.
Marxist theory
Ruling
class
Working
class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rCnkDs0B_
8
Task 1
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Work on your own to read the handout and answer
these questions into your book using full sentences:
Why is capitalism unfair?
Why are the ruling class able to exploit the working
class?
How does capitalism create crime?
According to Marxists, who breaks the law in society?
Why are the ruling class able to get away with their
crimes?
Extension - Are criminals modern day Robin Hoods?
Task 2
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In pairs, read the statements and discuss: According to the Marxist
theory, is this behaviour illegal? Who will get punished? Who will
get away with their crime and why?
Write down your thoughts about 2 of the statements into your book.
A celeb has 200 pairs of shoes while a mother in Bradford cannot
afford to buy her child a single pair.
A police officer lets an owner of the local factory off with a
warning, but fines one of the workers for the same speeding
offence.
A wealthy chief executive of a bank quits his job in order to avoid
being arrested for fraudulent trading carried out by the bank’s
traders.
A teenager is arrested for stealing an iphone which all her friends
have, but she couldn’t afford to buy one.
Task 3
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1.
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2.
3.
a)
b)
Work in pairs.
Read the cards – each is a paragraph from an essay
answer to this question:
Discuss how far sociologists would agree that crime is caused
by capitalism. (12 marks)
Arrange the cards in the order in which you think they
should be written up as a essay.
Mark it by:
Annotating each paragraph with around 3 things that are
good about it.
Annotating each paragraph with around 3 things that
need to be improved.
Correct order
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Intro:
Marxist sociologists would agree that crime is caused by capitalism.
However, other sociologists, such as Functionalists, would disagree.
They say it is caused by the pursuit of the ‘American dream’ and
membership of subcultures.
P1:
Marxists argue that capitalism causes crime. This is because it
promotes materialism and consumerism (the ownerships and gain of
material goods such as designer clothes) which, in turn, make people
greedy and selfish. In addition, social institutions such as the media
put pressure on people to want things they don’t really need by
glamorising the lives of the rich and famous. As a result, people may
turn to crime as the only way to get these things. Furthermore,
Marxists argue that everyone breaks the law, even the rich.
However, they get away with their crimes because they have the
power to influence the government.
Correct order
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P2:
On the other hand, Functionalists disagree that capitalism causes crime. Merton
argues that the pressure to achieve the American dream (success such as a nice
house, car, etc. through education and work) may lead people into crime. This is
because some people do not have the opportunity to become successful through
legitimate means such as education so they turn to crime. Merton refers to these
people as innovators and they tend to be working class.
P3:
Another Functionalist sociologist, Cohen, argues that membership of subcultures
causes to crime. He says that young working class males can’t do well in education
because education promotes middle class values which they do not understand. As a
result, they lack status in school and develop status frustration (anger at their low
position). In order to achieve status, they join gangs in which there is criminal
behaviour such as truanting, drinking, vandalism, etc. Therefore, they learn to be
criminal from the gang and in order to gain status.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, sociologists disagree on the causes of crime. While Marxists say crime
is caused by capitalism because it creates greed, Functionalists disagree and say
that it is the lack of opportunities of some people to achieve the American dream
legitimately that leads them into crime as it leads them to join criminal subcultures.
Good parts
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Outline of the essay in the Introduction – shows 2
sides of the argument.
Defines the key words throughout the rest of the
essay.
Clear and correct structure – 1st part is the view
that agrees with the title, then the opposing view.
Correct use of connectives.
Use of Sociologists’ names.
Clear Conclusion.
To improve
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Start the Intro by defining the key terms from the
title (crime and capitalism).
Too much detail on Marxism – the section about who
gets punished is not directly relevant to this essay.
Should have written a paragraph on biological
explanations of crime as well.
Task 4
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Improve the essay by adding in the missing parts
and crossing out the unnecessary parts.
Learning journey
Difference between
crime and deviance,
legal and illegal deviance
Media
representations of
crime
Official crime
statistics –
detecting, reporting
and recording of
crime, the dark
figure of crime
Social control (informal
and formal)
Explaining crime –
labelling theory and
subcultural theory
How do Sociologists
study crime: victim and
self-reporting studies?
Who breaks
the law? –
age,
ethnicity
and gender
Explaining crime –
Functionalist theory
and Marxist theory
Victims of crime,
government solutions to
crime, social problems of
youth crime and racism
Who breaks
the law? –
social class and
locality
Explaining crime –
biological vs. sociological
theories: peer group
pressure, opportunity,
socialisation
Revision and
end of Topic
exam question
Review
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Taboo
Each student will come to the front of the class and
pick a card.
Each card has a key concept from this Unit on it.
You have to describe the concept to the class so
they can work out what it is.