Marxist Theories of Crime – A Summary

Revision notes for A-level sociology, written with AQA sociology A level paper 2: crime and deviance with theory and methods (7192/3) in mind.

If you need to read over this in more depth then check out this long form version of the Marxist Theory of Crime here

Introduction/ The basics

• Traditional Marxist theories explain crime in relation to power inequalities created by the capitalist system

• The inequalities and injustices within Capitalism generate crime.

• Class based analysis – both classes commit crime, the crimes of the elite are more harmful

• The Bourgeoisie h- have economic power and because of this control the criminal justice system – they defined their own harmful acts as legal and are less likely to be prosecuted for the crimes they commit.

• Historical Period (for Marxist Criminology) The 1970s

Crimogenic Capitalism

• Crime is a consequence of the economic structure of capitalism
• Capitalism is harsh, exploitative and breeds inequality, materialism and selfishness, which combined make crime in Capitalist societies inevitable.
• See David Gordon’s work on the ‘Dog eat Dog’ society

The Elite Make the Law in Their Own Interests

• William Chambliss: At the heart of the capitalist system lies the protection of private property
• Laureen Snider – Many nation states are reluctant to pass laws which restrict the freedom of Transnational Corporations to make profit
• There is unequal access to the law – the more money you have, the better lawyer you can get
• Harmful and exploitative acts in capitalist systems are not formally labelled criminal if these harmful activities make a profit – e.g. Colonialism/ Numerous Wars/ Pollution.

All Classes Commit Crime and the Crimes of the Powerful are of particular interest to Marxist Criminologists

• White Collar Crime = Individual middle class/ elite crime within a company , Corporate = Institutional crime

• Typical e.g’s include various types of fraud and negligence regarded health and safety at work.

• The economic costs of Corporate Crime are greater than street crime (Laureen Snider/ Corporate Watch.

• High profile Corporate Crimes = Bernie Madhoff, the Enron $100bn fraud and the 20 000 dead people as a result of Union Carbide’s corporate negligence in Bhopal, India.

• Despite being more costly to society, the crimes of the elite tend to go unpunished – As research by Tombs and Whyte suggests

The ideological functions of selective law enforcement

According to Gordon ‘selective law enforcement’ benefits the Capitalist system in three major ways:

• we ignore the failings of the system that lead to the conditions of inequality which generate crime.

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

• sweeps out of sight the ‘worst jetsam of Capitalist society’ such that we cannot see it.

Overall Evaluations of Marxist Theories of Crime

Postitive 

• Dog eat Dog explains both WC and Elite crime
• TTIP is good supporting evidence for point 2not lone individuals
• Lots of case studies and stats support the view that Corporate Crimes are harmful – Bhopal!
• Tombs and Whyte’s research – strongly supports point 3

Negative (criticisms) 

• X – Crime has been decreasing in the UK in the last 20 years, yet we’re increasingly ‘neoliberal’
• X – Crime existed before Capitalism and in Communist societies
• X – Consensus theories argue most people today have private property, so most people are protected by the law
• X – It’s unfair to compare corporate crime such as Fraud to street crime, the later has a more emotional toll.
• X – Some Corporate Crminals are punished (e.g. Madhoff)