Marxist Perspective

What is the main capitalist perspective of crime?

Capitalism is criminogenic as the class divide means the working class have to commit crime in order to survive.

Gordon

• Suggested that it was not surprising that the working class committed crime, but that they did not commit more of it than any other class. He believes that crime is a rational response to capitalism.

Riemann

• Riemann- Suggests that crime of the powerful is much less likely to be treated as a criminal offence and then prosecuted. Selective law making is present in society as the criminal justice system focus on policing and punishing the marginalised, not the wealthy.

Chambliss

• Argues there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. Argues that the laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy.

Snider

• States that capitalist states are unlikely to pass laws that regulate capitalist concerns ie. Regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability.

Pearce

The ideological functions of crime is the process by which the working class are divided as they see criminals as their problem, not capitalism, which according to Pearce benefits capitalism and creates a false consciousness.

Evaluation:

• Over- emphasises property crime.

• Ignores the relationship between crime and non-class inequalities such as ethnicity and gender.

• Feminists argue it focuses mainly on male crime.

• Over- emphasises class inequality

• Over deterministic- assumes people commit crime because of factors outside of their control,

• Ignores victims- Left realists point out that working class crime is usually committed against others in the working class.