Poverty may mean that crime is the only way that the working class can survive, as crime may e the only way that they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by the capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft. However, it isn’t always utilitarian crime that the working class commit as sometimes the alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression which results in non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism and violence. Marxist’s sometimes argue the state and law-making are a cause of crime because they believe that all laws serve the ruling class, most law is based on protecting private property. The crimes of the working class and ethnic minorities are punished harshly while crimes of the powerful go unnoticed. The ruling class also have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that would threaten their interests.
Seen through a marxist lens, the issue of crime and deviance is rooted in the criminogenic nature of capitalism and its exploitation of the proletariat working class by their bourgeois rulers. Marxist views are useful in their linking of crime to societal structure and explaining why the working class appear to be high offenders. However, this view often excludes the effect of gender and ethnicity, neglects the victims and downplays the seriousness of 'blue-collar' crime, and can be partially disproven using contemporary examples. Capitalism, according to Robert Merton, provides certain values for society, most commonly seen as the 'American Dream' and when the proletariat seek to achieve the goals society sets for them, many cannot and must find a way around this 'strain'. This happens in many ways, but Merton most pertinently mentions 'innovative' citizens who commit crime to achieve society's goals, 'rebels' who actively reject society's values, causing them to commit crime and a 'retreatist' form of living that often involved law-breaking via drug consumption.
Assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class. (21 marks) Marxists attack traditional sociological theories of crime and deviance because they believe that crime arises from the very definitions of crime (what it is) as determined by the ruling classes. Traditional explanations are incorrect because they are based on definitions of crime that are imposed by those in authority and these laws are an expression of ruling class ideology. Essentially they argue that the criminal justice system is managed by the bourgeoisie, who set the parameters of what is legal and otherwise to suit their own means. Because Marxists see the ‘system’ as the cause of crime, much of the focus is on systems of power and control (that is, the police and courts).
However evidence shows that criminals are most likely to come from the working class, the young and the black community. Marxists also talk about law creation; they say law is a reflection of the will of the powerful. They believe that the rich are able to manipulate the rest of us and pass laws which benefit them they do this in two ways. The first way being through setting the agenda, this means that the debate on law and order is conducted in a frame work of values sympathetic to the ruling class. The second way is through pressure group activity, law changes are often a result from pressure group lobbying by the government.
Asses different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class (21 marks) A traditional Marxist theory explains that the workings of society can be explained by the concept of exploitation, such as the exploitation of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, this was the starting foundation of Chambliss theory to exploring the relationship between class and crime. The traditional Marxist view to crime is that the criminal law justice system is extremely beneficial to the ruling class. The dominant ideology of the ruling classes is disseminated through agencies such as, education, media, and religion which is forced onto individuals, this process is known as hegemony. Capitalism is based on consumerism, selfishness and competition therefore crime can be considered a normal outcome of these values which stress looking after one self at the expense of others, in other words even though capitalist benefit most out of the criminal justice system if we look at their personality traits and the whole concept of capitalism it is more likely that upper class people in this business have the ability to commit such crimes as they are used to using the motto, every man for them self. Marxist theory provides an explanation of how crime is dealt with in society, in order to maintain the status quo.
Outline + assess the Marxist explanations for crime and deviance . Marxist theories of crime are based on conflict. They claim that society is divided by capitalism and there is a conflict between the upper-classes and the working-classes. They suggest that social inequality, as a result of capitalism, is the cause of crime. The starting point for Marxist and neo-Marxist approaches is the laws, and how the ways that they are created and enforced may favour certain groups; the ruling/upper-classes.
This leads to a class bias because the working class is more likely to fit the criminal stereotype; resulting in more arrests and so the strengthens the prejudice, meaning that other agents of social control within the criminal justice system also reinforce this bias. A strength to this approach is that it explains why the working class have higher crime statistics, because they are stereotyped and then begin to live up to this, which in further arrests. However, despite recognising the role of power in creating deviance, but it fails to analyse the source of this power. The effects of labelling have also been highlighted by the
As he is unable to achieve these luxuries through work, he may turn to criminal activity because he wants to be like his peers as he feels pushed out. Sociologists believe that to some extent, relative deprivation is the key cause of crime in society however there are some other aspects that affect this. Sub-cultural theories are a belief of some sociologists where crime is explained by saying that criminals learn how to commit these crimes from their peer groups or subculture. Cohen in 1955 completed a study on working class boys in North America and found that they were easily involved in gangs. One aspect that was said to have pushed them away from the education system and towards these gangs was because they had middle class standards and values and these boys were unable to live up to the high expectations of these teachers.
This theory has empirical support. For example Morrison found the underclass are faced with blocked opportunities due to their position in the social structure. Crime is then commuted because of group feelings of resentment and revenge suggesting there is some validity in this theory. Cloward and Ohlin however critical Cohen for failing to recognise different types of crime that emerge out of the legitimate opportunity structure. Cloward and Ohlin's theory differs (as the source states) from Cohen's slightly: They state access to criminal networks shape subculture types.
Some of these criminals are in trouble with crime because of their social standings in their communities. “Social structure theory has three schools of thought--social disorganization, strain, and cultural deviance theories” (Seigel, 2000). The social disorganization theory states that a person resorts to crime because of the location and economic standing that the person is in. If a person is poor it is thought of that the person will more likely commit a crime. The social strain theory states that the person commits the crime because they are angry because they are not able to succeed economically as he/she would like to.