Traditional Marxism

Question 1

overview

Answer 1

Traditional Marxism sees capitalist society as divided into two classes: the ruling capitalist class who own the means of production, & the working class whose alienated labour is exploited to produce profit.

This structural theory sees society as a structure in which the economic base (all things related to production: machines, factories, land, etc.) determines the shape of the superstructure (all other social institutions including education, family, politics, the criminal justice system, media, etc.).

Their function is to serve ruling-class interests & maintain the capitalist economy. Therefore, it is the structure of capitalist society that explains crime & their view of crime has three main elements:

Question 2

1. Criminogenic capitalism

Answer 2

Crime is inevitable in capitalism because capitalism is criminogenic – by its very nature it causes crime

• Poverty may mean that crime is the only way the working class can survive (e.g. by stealing food & other resources).
• Crime may be the only way they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft (e.g. of the latest mobile phones).
• Alienation & lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration & aggression, resulting in non utilitarian crimes such as violence & vandalism (e.g. fighting in pubs, football hooliganism).

However, crime is not confined to the working-class as capitalism is a ruthless ‘dog eat dog’ system of competition where the profit motive encourages greed & self-interest that leads capitalists to commit white-collar & corporate crimes such as tax evasion & breaches of health & safety laws. Crime is therefore a rational response to the capitalist system & hence it is found in all social classes

Marxism a useful theory as unlike any other theories, it recognises & helps to explain the criminal behaviour of all social classes and also the existence of both utilitarian & non-utilitarian crime in society.

Question 3

2. The state & law making

Answer 3

Marxists see all laws as essentially for the benefit of the ruling class, & reflect their interests. Criminal law therefore operates to protect the rich & powerful. William Chambliss argues that laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy.

The ruling class also have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that would threaten their interests. E.g. there are few laws that seriously challenge the unequal distribution of wealth

Question 4

The state & law making

Hegemony

Answer 4

In capitalist societies, the ruling class impose their values (values which are beneficial to themselves) upon the mass of the population. (E.g. the value of working hard to own your own home.) They do this through a number of agencies such as the education system, religion & the mass media. This concept of ruling class values being imposed upon the population is known as hegemony.

It is this hegemonic, dominant set of values that are the basis from which laws arise in a democracy. However, according to Marxists, the set of values is actually ‘forced’ on the people. Thus what they believe they are agreeing to as a result of their own beliefs are, in reality, in the interests of the ruling class. So the working class suffer from a ‘false consciousness’.

selective enforcement & has links to labelling theory & Cicourel’s idea of typifications, but Marxism usefully puts these similar ideas into a wider structural context to highlight unequal power issues within society.

Question 5

3. Ideological functions of crime & law

Answer 5

Crime plays a significant part in supporting the ideology of capitalism (i.e. the ‘idea’ of capitalism), as it diverts attention away from the exploitative nature of capitalism & focuses attention instead on the evil & frightening nature of certain criminal groups in society, from whom we are only protected by the police. This justifies heavy policing of working class areas, stops & searches

Laws are occasionally passed that appear to be for the benefit of the working class rather than capitalism, such as workplace health & safety laws. However, Marxists argue that these laws also benefit the ruling class as they help to keep workers fit for work & give capitalism a ‘caring’ face, creating false consciousness among workers. Also, these laws are not rigorously enforced & only a tiny % of cases investigated result in prosecution.

Furthermore, because the state enforces the law selectively, crime appears 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.