SOC 2700 Lecture Notes - Thorsten Sellin, Class Conflict, Structural Marxism
9 Oct 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Test: day 1: 1 essay question must be written, day 2: 1 of 2 essays must be written, 3-4 pages are successful . Common ideas in conflict theory: inequality and power, crime is political, law serves the powerful. Marxist criminology: karl marx and friedrich engels: crime is tied to economic structures, scarce resources = competition, capitalism produces inequality, economic classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat, source of conflict: who controls the means (mode) of production. Marxist criminology: modern theorists: low: domain of the ruling class, crime: hyproduct of class struggle, distancing from means of production determines crime, importance of surplus value and crime. Contemporary marxists: willem bonger: greed and selfishness are tied to crime, owners: make profits, workers: sell their labour cheap, both are greedy and selfish, but: only the poor are criminalized, capitalism demoralizes the person (crime) Contemporary marxists: other approaches: conditions in capitalism generate crime: reaction to deprivation thesis, social origins of law and criminalization.
