Marxist Explanations of Crime

• Traditional Marxism on crime

  • Crime is linked back to structure of society and closely linked to economy.
  • Crime and deviance are an outcome of a capitalist society which is based on wide-ranging inequalities. 
  • The powerful or ruling class dictate what constitutes crime and deviance through their control of the legislative process.
  • The crimes of the powerful are not dealt with as severely as those of the most deprived and exploited groups such as the unemployed. 
  • Therefore, the state, the police and law-enforcement agencies act on behalf of the ruling class to protect their privileged position.
• • Everyone breaks the law, both the working and ruling class
  • Capitalism is based on exploitation of the working class so it is damaging to them and can lead them into crime:
  • Poverty can lead them into crime as it can be the only way for them to survive.
  • Capitalism is based on consumerism (buying more and more products) and materialism (valuing owning products more than anything else). Crime can be the only means through which people can obtain the products promoted by capitalism through advertising.
• • Working class may turn to crime as the workers are exploited which makes them alienated. This can lead to feelings of frustration which can result in aggression and non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism. 
  • The ruling class also break the law. This is because capitalism encourages a “dog-eat-dog” ruthless competition. As a result, the ruling class commit white collar and corporate crimes such as tax evasion and breaches of health and safety laws. (However, working class are punished but higher class is not.)(Covid inquiry - example of state crime)
• Marxist explanations of crime 

  • Marxists agree with interactionists.
  • They both suggest that there is an over-emphasis on working class crime.
  • They both also suggest that the law is disproportionately enforced onto the working class.
  • Therefore, Marxists provide the following three explanations for crime and deviance:
  • Criminogenic capitalism
  • The state and law making 
  • Ideological functions of crime and law
  • What causes crime? Capitalism causes crime because it is criminogenic - it causes crime by its very nature.
• Criminogenic Capitalism

  • Like Functionalists, Marxists also agree that crime is inevitable.
  • This is because capitalism is criminogenic.
  • What does this mean? The nature of capitalism is criminal 
  • As capitalism is built on the exploitation of the proletariat, the proletariat are likely to commit crime due to the following reasons:
  • Poverty (eg. people who claim more benefits than they are entitled to)
  • Lack of access to consumer goods (eg. shoplifting)
  • Alienation / powerlessness (eg. vandalism to show frustration)
• Gordon (1976)

  • Crime is a “rational response to capitalism”
  • This is because capitalism encourages immoral behaviour 
  • Capitalism encourages greed and self-interest, it generates frustration and aggression. 
  • Breaking the law can be seen as a rational step in order to satisfy these desires and express these feelings.
  • Therefore, crime should not be viewed as a symptom of working class culture.
• The state and law making

  Chambliss (1975)

  • Just as with everything else in society, Marxists believe that the law was created to benefit the bourgeoisie / elite.
  • Therefore, law enforcement enables crimes of the powerful by protecting them.
  • (Eg. Powerful able to put apartheid laws into place)
• The state and law making

  Snider (1993)

  • Snider goes further to suggest that the ruling class have the power and authority to prevent particular laws from being introduced. (living wage rather than national wage should be introduced but this has been blocked)
  • This contributes to the unequal distribution of wealth.
  • According to Snider, capitalist states are reluctant to pass laws that regulate economic activity.
• Case Study: The Vagrancy Act

  • The Vagrancy Act makes homelessness an offence which can lead to arrest and prosecution.
  • This act stemmed from the rise in the Plague to which caused the Black Death.
  • To avoid further spreading and contamination, the Police were ordered to remove all those homeless, begging and sleeping rough.
  • In contemporary society, petitions have been created to repeal the act as it demonises a vulnerable group.
  • (Eg. Rio sweeped of homeless people before Olympics to protect image)
• Ideological functions of crime

  Pearce (1976)

  • Laws are occasionally passed/adjusted to distort the idea that the ruling class are in control and that they benefit from crimes
  • In addition to this, these new laws benefit the ruling class further as they are not strict/properly monitored against them when they commit crimes.
• Ideological functions of crime

  Pearce (1976)

  • This works for both classes as the proletariat are “protected”, whereas the ruling class can continue to earn a profit and continue to be criminals. (eg. health and safety laws bent)
  • Contemporary examples: Post Office Scandal, NHS Blood Scandal (blood infected with HIV not screened and given to patients in UK from donors all over the world)
• Case Study: Corporate Manslaughter

  • Introduced in 2007 as Corporate Homicide
  • Whilst it was created to obtain justice for death of employees caused by negligence, there has only been one successful case (Jenabi, 2014)
  • These “crimes” / causes of deaths impacted the proletariat the most
• What is the purpose of the law and how does it serve its purpose?

  • The purpose of the law is to serve the interests of the ruling class.
  • It does so in two ways:
  • The ruling class can use their influence to direct the types of laws to be introduced as well as to prevent certain laws from being introduced.
  • According to Reiman, the law is enforced selectively by the criminal justice system as the police target working class crimes and ignore the crimes of the powerful.
• What is the ideological purpose of the law?

  • The law is ideological because:
  • It helps maintain false class consciousness. For example, occasionally laws are passed which seem to benefit the working class, eg. health and safety at work laws. However, Pearce argues that such laws actually benefit the ruling class, eg. by keeping the workers fit for work.
• What is the ideological purpose of the law?

  • The law is ideological because:
  • It is selectively enforced - against the working class. This makes crime appear to be a working class phenomenon thus turning working class members against each other working class members and distracting them from the real cause of their suffering - capitalism.
• Three functions of crime and the law

  • Law creation, law enforcement and ideological
  • Law creation
  • The state as an agent of the ruling class defines criminal activities so that their own interests are served.
  • Most laws concern the protection on private property.
  • To maximise profit, death caused by exposing workers to danger is not seen as murder.
  • The workforce is controlled by eg. anti-union laws.
• Three functions of crime and the law

  • Law enforcement
  • Law is selectively enforced against the less powerful groups.
  • Corporate manslaughter charges are rare despite catastrophic industrial "accidents".
  • Police effort is directed at working class by prioritising certain crimes and areas of town.
  • Differential sentencing is biased against working class members.
  • Occasionally rich and powerful people are prosecuted to maintain the illusion of a fair and legal system.
  • Anti-trade union laws rigorously applied.
• Three functions of crime and the law

  • Ideological
  • Through socialisation people accept the naturalness and values of the capitalist system.
  • The problem of crime is equated with the working class who are made the scapegoats despite the trivial sums involved compared to the costs of white collar crime.
  • Selective law enforcement turns working class against working class thus distracting them from the real cause of their suffering.
  • Occasionally, laws are passed which appear to benefit the working class.
• Strengths of Marxist theory on crime

  • It explains crime through wider structural factors.
  • It explains both utilitarian and non-utilitarian crimes. (criminogenic capitalism)
  • It explains both working class as well as white collar crime.
• Weaknesses of the Marxist theory on crime

  • Marxists tend to view the behaviour of individuals as largely governed by external forces. Thus their accounts are somewhat deterministic. Some theorists argue that individuals retain free will, which enables them to decide whether they want to commit crime.
  • Marxists do not fully explain why many working class people do not commit crime.
  • It seems implausible to explain all laws in terms of the interests of the ruling elite; many laws appear to rest on general agreement.
  • Socialist states also have high crime rates at least as great as our own.
• Weaknesses of the Marxist theory on crime

  • Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates, eg. Japan, Switzerland
  • Communist countries don’t always equal low crime
  • It ignores the relationship between crime and other factors apart from class such as ethnicity and gender.
  • The criminal justice system does sometimes act against the interests of the capitalist class.
  • Left Realists argue that Marxism ignores intra-class crime such as burglary and mugging which cause great harm to the victims.
• Bhopal disaster

  • Union Carbide, an American owned multi-national company, set up a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India.
  • In 1984, the plant accidentally leaked deadly gas fumes into the surrounding atmosphere. The leakage resulted in over 2000 deaths and numerous poisonous related illnesses including blindness.
  • Investigations since have revealed that the company set up this particular plant because pollution controls in India were less rigid than in the USA.
• Bhopal disaster

  • Union Carbide paid compensation to the Indian government, but most of it never reached the people.
  • The Chairman of UC was flown out of India and the US government has refused to extradite him to India.
  • In 2010, 7 Indian managers at the factory were found guilty of causing death by negligence, but were released from prison much sooner than their 2 year sentences.
• Bhopal disaster

  • The Indian State supported such capitalist development in the interests of allowing profits to be made = capitalism causes crime.
  • Marxists would point out that there have been no criminal charges despite the high death and injury toll. They would see the company owners as the true criminals in this scenario = law enforcement.
• Guinness Affair

  • This case involved fraudulent leaks to the financial markets by Guinness directors, which artificially boosted the price of Guinness shares. The directors concerned made sizeable profits from the company directly and indirectly for themselves.
  • One of the convicted offenders, Gerald Ronson, (one of Britain’s 100 richest people) received a one-year sentence in Ford Open Prison and was released on parole after serving about 6 months. Since his release, he has continued to be a successful businessman.
• Guinness Affair

  • Another of the convicted offenders, Ernest Saunders, received a five year sentence and was released after about 18 months because of being diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, it has proved to be a false diagnosis and Ernest Saunders is now a successful business consultant. 
  • The British criminal justice system treated them leniently by imposing soft sentences and early release = law enforcement.
• Enron Scandal

  • Enron was an American energy company.
  • It used accounting loopholes and poor financial reporting to hide billion in debt from failed deals and projects.
  • Shareholders lost nearly $11 billion when Enron’s stock price plummeted to less than $1 by the end of November 2001.
• Enron Scandal

  • The firm had lost the majority of its customers and had shut down. Employees received limited compensation.
  • Many executives at Enron were indicted for a variety of charges and were later sentenced to prison.
  • The state occasionally punished corporate crimes severely in order to make it seen as if law enforcement is fair.