Last Updated on February 26, 2017 by
All of the material below takes you to evidence that broadly supports two ideas held by Marxists about Crime – you could also use the examples from the ‘data response exercise – no.2 above.
Are the crimes of the capitalist class more costly than street crime?
- Research by Tombs and Whyte – VERY IMPORTANT – illustrates how little money goes into enforcing health and saftey law and regulating the financial sector.
- Tax avoidance by the rich costs our economy £70bn a year and goes unpunished
To what extent is Capitalism Crimogenic?
The theory of crimogenic capitalism suggests that Capitalism encourages selfishness, materialism and non-caring attitudes, it breeds a dog-eat-dog society. The link below takes you to an example of some of the worst cases of Corporate harms. To what extent do you think Capitalism breeds crime in society?
- The incredible immorality of Corporate Greed – a number of examples of Corporations acting immorally in the pursuit of profit
- You could also watch ‘The Corporation’ DVD
Is law enforcement selective?
There are quite a few case studies of members of the elite classes seemingly getting away with crime. NB All of the material below is also backs up the Marxist idea that all classes commit crime (part of point 2).
- KT’s top four examples of elites getting away with crime – overlaps with some of the stuff below….
- Silvio Berlusconi – Possibly the most corrupt politician in Europe?
- Compare the punishment for these two cases of Fraud! One by an MP, the other by a regular member of the public
- The Fifa fraud is a good example of selective law enforcement in international football – peope basically accepting bribes for votes over what country gets the world cup – such blatent corruption goes unpunished
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