Traditional Marxism

• In a nutshell


  Explain crime in terms of Capitalism and the class structure – The Ruling classes make the law to benefit them, the law protects private property. Ruling and Middle class crime is more harmful than working class crime but ruling classes are less likely to get caught and punished for crime. Selective law enforcement performs ideological functions. WCs commit crime due to the ‘dog eat dog’ values of capitalist system – selfishness, materialism.
• Capitalism is Crimogenic


  Capitalism encourages individuals to pursue self-interest rather than public duty

  Capitalism encourages individuals to be materialistic consumers, making us aspire to an unrealistic and often unattainable lifestyle.

  Capitalism in its wake generates massive inequality and poverty, conditions which are correlated with higher crime rates.
• Capitalism, self-interest and crime - GORDON


  Marxist Sociologist David Gordon says that Capitalist societies are ‘dog eat dog societies’ in which each individual company and each individual is encouraged to look out for their own interests before the interests of others, before the interests of the community, and before the protection of the environment. If we look at the Capitalist system, what we find is that not only does it recommend that we engage in the self-interested pursuit of profit is good, we learn that it is acceptable to harm others and the environment in the process.
• Capitalism, materialism and crime- MERTON AND NIGHTINGALE

  Corporations benefit through advertising. Capitalism could not exist without the culture of consumerism that the advertising industry perpetuates. One of the most obvious is that the world of advertising presents as normal a lifestyle that may be unattainable for many people in British Society.

  Merton and Nightingale have pointed out that for some the desire to achieve the success goals of society outweigh the pressure to obey the law, advertising only adds to this strain between the legitimate means and the goal of material success.
• Capitalism, Inequality and Crime - ROTHKOPF

  The Capitalist system is one of radical inequality. At the very top we have what David Rothkopf calls the ‘Superclass’ , mainly the people who run global corporations, and at the very bottom we have the underclass (in the developed world) and the slum dwellers, the street children and the refugees in the developing world.
• White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime - SNIDER


  Marxists argue that although they are hidden from view, the crimes of the elite exert a greater economic toll on society than the crimes of the ‘ordinary people’. Laureen Snider (1993) points out that the cost of White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime to the economy far outweighs the cost of street crime by ‘typical’ criminals. Two contemporary organisations: Multinational Monitor and Corporate Watch, specialise in documenting the illegal activities of corporations.
• The Ideological Functions of Selective Law Enforcement - GORDON

  Selective law enforcement benefits the Capitalist system in three major ways

  Punishing individuals and making them responsible for their actions, defining these individuals as ‘social failures’ we ignore the failings of the system that lead to the conditions of inequality and poverty that create the conditions which lead to crime.

  The imprisonment of members of the lower classes neutralises opposition to the system.

  The imprisonment of the underclass also sweeps out of sight the ‘worst jetsam of Capitalist society’
• Criticisms of the Marxist Perspective on Crime

  While it may be true that the economic costs of corporate crime and fraud are greater than street crime, the direct emotional impact of street crimes are greater. If you are a victim of robbery or other types of street violence, you feel it more than being a victim of a corporate crime which you may not even notice!