Marxist views on crime

Question 1

How is capitalism ‘crimogenic’ ?

Answer 1

• ‘Causes crime’
  1) Makes poverty –> crime to stay out of it.
  2) Inability to obtain consumer goods –> utilitarian crimes?
  3) Alienation, lack of control over lives –> non-utilitarian crimes.
  -We live in a ‘dog eat dog’ world whereby self-interest is encouraged above all else.
  = crime is a rational response to competitiveness.

Question 2

According to Marxists, why is crime not just confined to w/c?

Answer 2

Feeling of relative poverty; not in consumer market.

Question 3

What does Gordon (1971, 1976) say?

Answer 3

(i) Surprising that more crime is not committed due to above mentioned circumstances.
(ii) Crime is a rational response to a capitalist system, hence why it is found in all classes.

Question 4

Chambliss (1975) says the law reflects ruling class interests and ideology. How is this the case?

Answer 4

• Laws aren’t an expression of value consensus, just the beliefs, values and interests of the ruling class.
• Protection of private property at heart (along with others) of capitalism.
• All ‘crime’ is along these lines of protecting r/c.

Question 5

What does Box (1983) say? Explain it.

Answer 5

• Serious crime is ideologically constructed.
• Identified as property and violent crimes committed by w/c.
• Not corporation, green or governmental crime.

Question 6

What does Snider (1991) say? Explain it.

Answer 6

R/C prevents introduction of laws that would threaten their interesrs.

• only do it when forced by public agitation.
• although enforcement of such laws is hit and miss.
• laws that benefit everyone provide a smokescreen effect; occasional prosecution makes people believe in equity.

Question 7

How is the law selectively enforced?

Answer 7

• Stats implicate that crime is mainly a w/c phenomenon.
  -crime control focused on w/c.
• r/c treated leniently and under policed.
  Depiction of crime as w/c creates distrust and fear of criminals –> divert from real focus of capitalism.

Question 8

What does Pearce (1976) say about the enforcement of law?

Answer 8

• Biggest crimes committed by r/c.

- Crimes committed by powerful, e.g. white collar, corporate, are rarely prosecuted or not even discovered.

Question 9

Evaluate Marxist theories of crime.

Answer 9

• Ignores influence of non-class inequalities such as ethnicity and gender.
• Too deterministic - over-estimates amount of ‘actual’ crime.
• Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates, e.g. Japan and Switzerland have homicide rate about 1/5 of US.
• Criminal system does sometimes act against r/c.
• Marxism ignores intra-class crimes as majority of crime.
• Over romanticise crime as ‘political’ outcry.