Marxist View on Crime and Deviance free essay sample

According to Wickham (1991), deviance is behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. Karl Marx says that deviance is due to unequal power relationships and is a function of class struggle. Crime, however, is an act of deviance prohibited by law. The conflict theory of crime states that those in the higher social classes will benefit more from the government, compared to those in the lower class. Thus, conflict will be present in society, and the resulting crime will benefit those in power. Marxists support this view, and focus on the conflict between different sets of groups values. Marxists believe that all classes in society are deviant and criminal. They disagree that deviance is a working class phenomenon, though they are thought of as the main offenders of crime and deviance. Laws are made by the state, which represent the interests of the ruling class. We will write a custom essay sample on Marxist View on Crime and Deviance or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Marxists tend to emphasise ‘white collar, corporate crime’ and pay less attention to ‘blue collar’ variants. They note that the crimes of the upper class exert a greater economic toll on society than the crimes of the ordinary people. Marxists believe that crime and deviance is a direct outcome of the exploitative nature of the capitalist society. According to him, the ruling class exploits the working class. There are those that â€Å"have†, and those that â€Å"have not†. They believe that the superstructure (the state, the police, the legal system, the family) maintain and reflect ruling class ideology. The working class is under a state of false class consciousness, and are therefore very vulnerable and easily taken advantage of. rime acts as a way to divert the working class’s attention away from their exploitation, and therefore contains their resistance. Until true class consciousness can be reached by this exploited working class, the ruling class would continue to use crime for their benefit. Thus, it is those in power who define crime. To reach success, functionalists believe that the correct thing to do is go through institutionalized means in order to access certain goals. However, what Marxists point out is that these institutions are all corrupt, and are just used to secure the superiority of the ruling class. Thus, those being exploited cannot use these institutions to reach higher up in society. This is why many turn to crime and deviance in order to get what they want. Working class crime is a result of labour exploitation and labour misery. Hence, theft is an expression of that exploitation and is a political act of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. However, the ruling class will violate laws will impunity while the members of the working class will be punished. The current economic system is ensured to stay in favour of the ruling class due to existing laws. Obviously, crime and deviance will occur as these laws are designed to sustain the capitalist economic system. Hence, in a capitalist society, crime is inevitable, as it stems from social inequalities. The economic and social environment created is almost guaranteed to create crime and deviance. In all capitalist societies, the ruling class gains more in every aspect of social life. Since they are benefiting, they would not want to change the norms and values of society (the status quo), of the capitalist society. This is known as ideology, as is considered the ‘soft edge’ of social control. Karl Marx believes that revolutionary means is the best way to make a change and to resist the dominant ideology present, as he states that the presence of a capitalist society is what causes crime. Hence, he believes that a revolution will happen, rather than criminal activity, where the ruling class will be overthrown, resulting in the elimination of crime. Karl Marx has been both criticized and praised for his works. Firstly, his ideas are said to offer some kind of balance, as they do not focus on working-class deviance, and emphasize that deviance occurs at every level of society. However, they ignore the impact of other systems as they focus too much on the capitalist system. Jock Young states that Marx fails to acknowledge that the social controls provided by the state can protect working-class people from crime and deviance. Feminists say that Marxism places undue emphasis on class inequality, ignoring the role of patriarchy in shaping how the criminal justice system operates . Marxists overestimate the extent to which â€Å"capitalism causes crime†. Marxists assume that in a communist utopia, crime would be eradicated, but historically, this has not been the case. Marxists have an over simplistic view of crime. Although there are clearly some people with more power than others, this does not mean that they can pass any law that benefits them. â€Å"Left realists† claim Marxism places undue emphasis of corporate crime, arguing that robbery, burglary and other violent crimes cause more harm than Marxists recognise. Unlike the functionalist theories, the conflict theories focus on conflict between different sets of group values, rather than consensus in society. Marx believes that the government and those in the upper class are the culprits of causing crime, and that they create laws and rules to continue to exploit the exploited. Hence, they often use crime as a means of controlling the working class, and this oppression makes crime inevitable.