Outline Marxist explanations of crime (50)
Marxists argue that crime is based on three elements; criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making and lastly selective enforcement.
Marxists argue that capitalism by its very nature causes crime. They argue that low wages paid to the working class by the capitalist class, results in material deprivation. This deprivation then leads to frustration which results in utilitarian crimes such as theft. They claim that this is the reason why official statistics show that mainly the working class engage in criminal behaviour. However a weakness of this theory is that it is highly deterministic and ignores individual motivation and the notion of free will, as not all poor people commit crimes despite the pressures of poverty.
Marxists argue that the media create the illusion that happiness can be bought for example through advertising and foster the values of materialism. For example all people share the same desire to purchase the latest phones for example the iphone 5, despite not being able to afford luxury items. This in itself causes crime as the lower classes resort to utilitarian crimes and use illegitimate means to gain the materialistic object. However crime is not confined to the working class as capitalism also encourages capilitists to commit corporate crimes such as fraud and insider trading.
Marxists believe that the law and law enforcement only serve the interests of the ruling class. The law, crime and criminals serve an ideological function by creating a false class consciousness among the workers. The capitalist system leads workers to believe that some laws are passed which only benefit the working class. However Pierce argues that laws such as workers health and safety also benefit the ruling class as it ensures that workers are fit so they can continue generating profit for the owners of production. This theory has been criticised as not all laws which are passed are clearly in the benefit of the ruling class, such as traffic laws which appear to benefit everyone including the working class. Therefore the theory lacks explanatory power for laws which do not clearly serve only the interests of the ruling class.
Marxists claim that the ruling class prevent the introduction of laws which threaten their interests. Snider supports this view as he claims that the capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability. A weakness of this theory is that the criminal justice system does sometimes act against the capitalist class as there have been prosecutions for corporate crimes. However Marxists would argue that these occasional prosecutions serve an ideological function in making the system seem impartial.
Reiman supports the Marxist explanation of crime through selective enforcement. He argues that ‘street crimes’ such as theft and burglary are more likely to be reported and pursued by the police than white collar crimes. Crimes committed by the ruling class are less likely to be treated as a criminal offence. Gordon argues that this helps the ruling class to maintain their power.
Marxists state that the capitalist system targets powerless groups such as the working class and ethnic minorities by criminalizing them. Certain groups are more likely to be on the receiving end of law enforcement. For example stops and searches and 5 times more likely to be conducted on young black individuals. Crime is regarded as the most common amongst the working class, so as a result there is a much greater police presence among them. Left realists criticise Marxists for focusing largely on the crimes of the powerful and ignoring intra class crimes such as burglary and muggings, which cause great harm to victims.