Using material from item B and elsewhere assess the usefulness of Marxist approaches in explaining crime Marxism is a conflict theory established by Karl Marx. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is just a way in which the ruling classes (the bourgeoisie) control and exploit the workers (the proletariat), and it focuses on the unequal conflict between these two sectors of society. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is criminogenic – which means that by its nature it inevitably causes crime. As item B states, Marxists see crime in the capitalist system as ‘a tool of the ruling class’ where they can control the working class and crime is an unavoidable result because of the oppression the working class are subject to. They also believe that laws are enforced mostly to benefit the interests of the ruling class.
And of course none of these are good escape routes from poverty and we all believe in the term "poverty causes crime". But it’s not always the poor who commits crime. Mostly the poor or the middle class people will go after crimes to fulfill their temporary desires. For example raping, stealing and sometimes murder too. Since the low class poor people are not usually educated, they often easily “pushed” into the crimes by the high class people.
Some crimes go unrecorded or undetected, because some people feel pressure, they may be domestic or drug usage, there is even a class difference. Most crimes that are published in the media come from working class backgrounds, like ‘hoody culture’, this created a media panic, and automatically hoodies were banded and associate with crime, and deviance. However many upper class crimes go unreported and do not create a media panic, so people are not aware of them and do not find them a problem. Gordons argues that
However, could there be an actual connection between Marxism and criminology? Critical criminologists believe that the upper classes always decide what a crime is and how it will be punished. They use the justice system to control the lower classes and prevent them from gaining power. They feel that many justice systems are unfair for that reason. That's why critical criminologists concentrate on different areas like postmodern structures and capitalism and their effects or relationships with crime and justice systems.
Labeling theory involving Gangs There is a separation that is prevalent in today’s society between the rich and the poor. People who are born rich are able to commit crimes and avoid the punishment that follows, while the poor must face full punishment of the law and have few if any rights when it comes to formal sanctions of law enforcement. When you think of a gang more than likely, you do not think of a large group of close friends but rather a group of people who are menaces to society who carry guns, sell drugs, and cause havoc and violence in many different types of neighborhood’s. This is why we will investigate in further detail the labels that are placed on gangs using labeling theory and the effects it has on their social interactions. A sociologist by the name of Walter Miller did a study where he interviewed law enforcement personnel and social service professionals who dealt with youth gangs.
Crime shows other members of the society what is right and wrong. Social consensus decides how right and wrong is determined. Crime can lead to social change, say functionalists, because the existence of crime proves to the people in the society that the government does not overly control the citizens. Crime can also help the economy of a society by creating jobs for law enforcement officers, psychiatrists, probation officers and the like. However, even in a functionalist society, too much crime can be bad for the group, causing it to lose the standard harmony and eventually causing the society to collapse.
When an individual is arrested, the labour force of the country is enfeebled and thus results in less profits in the economy. There is a saying ‘prevention is better than cure.’ If preventative measures are taken then less strain would be put on the economy to deal with criminals. It is know that there is a lot of corruption within the governmental services such as the army, police service and judiciary. If the society must rid itself of criminals the corrupted individuals within these services must be detached. This is where the government plays a role in attempting to confiscate the positions of the officials in the system who endeavor to promote crime.
The very people whose job is to protect society will deceive people to make illegal money. The politicians that society elects are no better than the corrupt police officers when he or she takes payoffs from organized crime group. Television programs have made me think about organized crime groups as only large groups that make big money. The neighborhood gang is an organized crime group that disrupts the neighborhood and has no respect for members of the community. Movies like American Gangster made me more interested in learning about organized crime groups.
For example, crime is correlated with unemployment, although the majority of the unemployed individuals still obey the law. The constituent of criminality and crime is highly relative, not to mention that it tends to be socially defined. In addition, it is also determined by the prevailing laws in a certain society, within a certain place, and at a given point in time. Sociological explanation to deviance and crime are concerned with the link between culture and the individual, as well as how the two elements work to develop each other. Deviance for example is a social construct and as such, looking at the individual per se means that you will miss the broader aspects (Lawson & Heaton 2009).
Conclusion: Poverty Does Not Fosters Crime Many people believe that poverty is the main cause of crimes in a city or country. They believe that the only thing poor people do is steal, mug, or even assassin to get things instead of working like a normal people do. For example, I have seen very rich people claiming that poor people are a problem to society because they do not give anything good to it; how poor people are thrown away from certain places only because they “scare normal people”, now society excludes them because of fear. We have become so judgmental that when we see a black guy or some other man with not so good clothes or with a not so good appearance (or in any way that poor people look) walking down the street coming right at us, we immediately though that he is going to assault us and maybe kill us; but if we see a man in a business suit, well shaved, with a clean hair cut, and a nice smile we might think it is even a friends of ours that is coming to say hi. There is something society should know, the rate of crimes is increasing in wealthy countries; the man in the suit could have done a scam or he might me a hit man.