Marxism, Class And Crime

What do Marxists agree with labelling theorists about?

That the law is enforced disproportionately against the working class and that therefore the official crime statistics cannot be taken at face value.

Why do Marxists criticise labelling theorists?

For failing to examine the wider structure of capitalism within which law making, law enforcement and offending take place. Marxist explanations of crime and deviance flow from their view of the nature of capitalist society.

What do Marxists see capitalist society as?

Divided into two classes: the ruling capitalist class who own the means of production and the working class, whose alienated labour the bourgeoisie exploit to produce profit.

What kind of theory is Marxism>

It is a structural theory.

Since Marxism is a structural theory, what does it see society as?

A structure in which the economic base (the capitalist economy) determines the shape of the superstructure, which is made up of all the other social institutions, including the state, the law and the CJS. Their function is to serve the ruling class interests and maintain the capitalist economy.

For Marxist, what does the structure of capitalist society explain?

Crime. Their view of crime has three main elements.

What are the three main elements of crime according to Marxists?

• Criminogenic capitalism.

• The state and law making.

• Ideological functions of crime and law.

For Marxists, why is crime inevitable in capitalism?

Because capitalism is criminogenic - by its very nature it causes crime.

What is capitalism based on?

The exploitation of the working class, using them as a means of profit, whatever the human cost of doing so. It is therefore particularly damaging to the working class and this may give rise to crime.

How can damage to the working class result in crime?

• Poverty may mean that crime is the only way they can survive.

• Crime may be the only way they obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft.

• Alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes such as violence and vandalism.

Is crime confined to the working class?

No.

What kind of system is capitalism?

A ‘dog eat dog‘ one of ruthless competition among capitalists, while the profit motive encourages a mentality of greed and self-interest.

What does the need to win at all costs or go out of business, along with the desire for self-enrichment, encourages capitalists to do?

Commit white collar crimes and corporate crimes such as tax evasion and breaches of health and safety laws.

Unlike functionalists, who see the law as reflecting the value consensus and representing the interests of society, what do Marxists see the law making and law enforcement as?

Only serving the interests of the capitalist class.

What does Chambliss argue?

That laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy.

How does Chambliss illustrate laws protecting private property being the cornerstone of the capitalist economy?

With the case of the introduction of English law into Britain’s East African colonies. Britains economic interests lay in the colonies' tea, coffee and other plantations, which needed a plentiful supply of local labour At the time, the local economy was not a money economy and so, to force the reluctant African population to work for them, the British introduced a tax payable in cash, non. payment of which was a punishable criminal offence. Since cash to pay the tax could only be earned by working on the plantations, the law served the economic interests of the capitalist plantation owners.

What do the ruling class have the power to prevent?

The introduction of laws that would threaten their interests. Thus, for example, there are few laws that seriously challenge unequal distribution of wealth.

What does Snider argue?

That the capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability.

What else do Marxists agree with labelling theorists about?

That although all classes commit crime, when it comes to the application of the law by the CJS, there is selective enforcement.

While powerless groups such as the working class and ethnic minorities are criminalised, what do the police and courts tend to ignore?

The crimes of the powerful.

What other function to the law, crime and criminals perform for capitalism?

An ideological one.

How does the law, crime and criminals perform ideological functions for capitalism?

Laws are occasionally passed that appear to be for the benefit of the working class rather than capitalism, such as workplace health and safety laws.

What does Pearce argue?

That such laws (like workplace health and safety) benefit the ruling class too - for example, by keeping workers fir for work. By giving capitalism a ‘caring‘ face, such laws also create false consciousness among the workers.

Are laws like workplace health and safety ones rigorously enforced?

No, for example, despite a new law against corporate homicide being passed in 2007, in its first eight years there was only one successful prosecution of a UK company - despite the large numbers of deaths at work estimated to be caused by employers’ negligence.

Because the state enforces the law selectively, what does crime appear to be?

Largely a working-class phenomenon. This divides the working class by encouraging workers to blame the criminals in their midst for their problems, rather than capitalism.

What do the media and some criminologists also contribute to taking the blame away from capitalism?

By portraying criminals as disturbed individuals, thereby concealing the fact that it is the nature of capitalism that makes people criminals.

What does Marxism offer?

A useful explanation of the relationship between crime and capitalist society: it shows the link between law making and enforcement and the interests of the capitalist class.

Why is the Marxist approach criticised?

On several grounds:

• It largely ignores the relationship between crime and non-class inequalities such as ethnicity and gender.

• It is too deterministic and over-predicts the amount of crime in the working class: not all poor people commit crime, despite the pressures of poverty.

• Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates; for example, the homicide rate in Japan and Switzerland is only about a fifth of that in the United States.
  (However, as Marxists point out, societies with little or no state welfare provision, such as the USA, tend to have higher crime rates)

• The criminal justice system does sometimes act against the interests of the capitalist class. For example, prosecutions for corporate crime do occur.
  (However, Marxists argue that such occasional prosecutions perform an ideological function in making the system seem impartial.)

• Left realists argue that Marxism ignores intra-class crimes (where both the criminals and victims are working-class) such as burglary and 'mugging', which cause great harm to victims.