To look at it critically we can also link crime to culture as what is regarded as criminal in culture is regarded differently in another, this opinion is backed by Cavan(1968:18) where she uses the case study of the Innuit of Canada to explain that an individual taking something that does not belong to him means he needed it desperately and would return it later however, it would be regarded as criminal in Britain and classified as theft.
The Oxford dictionary defines criminology as not only the study of crime but also of criminal and for the purpose of this essay a crime is defined as any act that goes contrary to what is laid down in the criminal law.
This essay aims to describe and discuss the Marxist approach to criminology which is a conflict theory stating what crime is, who commits crime, why they commit crime and other views on crime then I would conclude with a summary of the essay.
Having given an introduction in which I explained what crime and criminology is and stated the different theories on crime, I would give the various criticisms on Marxist approach to criminology and then come to my conclusion which is opposed to this approach.
MARXIST ON CRIME
Marx himself did not speak at length on the topic of crime however his followers referred to as Marxist give extended views of his opinion,they are characterised as conflict theorist and link crime directly to capitalism(Bilton et al 2002).To fully comprehend this theory on crime it is important to have background knowledge on the general views of Karl Marx capitalism as a system of government which dwell on the state and its means of production. In his opinion, there are two classes in a capitalist society; the ruling class who own the means of production (known as the Bourgeoisie) and the working class (known as the proletariat) who have to work so as to earn a living. He sees crime as the product of class society (Bottomore 1983:100).That is crime is dependent on ones social stand in society whether rich or working class.,He goes on to explain that they are of the belief that capitalism creates crime as the means of production are not equally distributed resulting in a very visible line between who is rich and who is poor, this inevitably leads to class conflict . The type of crimes and laws depend on the means of production whether it is owned by the state, small group of workers or other strata. According to Chambliss (2003:249),the capitalist societies are more prone to crime than others because there is a desire to consume by all (both the ruling and working class) but an inability to earn money to purchase these items by the working class this is opposed to socialist societies which supposedly have less crime rates due to less class conflicts.
Marx has three main views on criminal law and states that; any act of the working class which threatens the interest of the ruling class comes to be defined as criminal by the state therefore criminal behaviour is a product of the economic and political system, that is a crime is a crime because the bourgeois want it to be so. The Bourgeoisie can violate laws however the proletariats must be punished in a like situation and finally that the difference between both classes are increasing and the penal code will create clauses to force the working class into cooperation.
Crimes also have consequences for society which Marx sees as the usefulness of crime that since it is real it increases employment for those with occupations having to do with security ,research and law enforcement such as criminology experts, policemen, prison warders judges and locksmiths (This is possibly an advantage of something Good coming out of a negative situation).Rusche and Kirchheimer(1939)explain further that Prisons provide cheap manpower during labourer scarcity and is used as a control measure during surplus population, this concept was developed by Steven Spitzer (1975) to mean population explosion where there are too much individuals so actions are taken to reduce them for different purposes such as the threat of revolts.
CRITICISM OF MARXIST VIEWS ON CRIMINOLOGY
The criticisms on the Marxist view on criminology include that they fails to take into consideration that both the rich and poor all commit crime continuously the differences would be the type not the level as many crimes are committed by both the ruling and working class such as drug use and crimes of violence. I however do not agree that crime removes attention from the economic system it just gives diverse points of contact, as the lower class direct attention towards members of their own class it is psychological that when an individual is pushed to feel insignificant and helpless aggression is transferred to the nearest neighbour hence the working class are still fighting the system but through the nearest individual whom is not even the main source of their disgruntlement.I agree with Marxist view on crime because the state which comprise of the ruling class protect themselves directly or indirectly to the detriment of the lower class and renders them voiceless with nowhere to go for justice this frustration is manifested in form of needless strikes and riots resulting mostly in unemployment and possibly death. Marx never argued that the ruling class do not commit crime, they do but through bribery and redrafting the law they averted punishment he just said it was more rampant in the working class due to economic factors. Another criticism on Marxist approach to criminology is that they fail to give working solutions to crime but shift focus to capitalism (Lea and young 1993), that is concerning themselves with class and constantly blaming the rich in the society instead of objectively looking for ways to stop crime.
Conclusion
Although the concept of crime is complicated, a working definition of crime has been clearly show as any act that goes against the criminal law. There have been brief explanations of the different theories of crime which are conflict, positivist, Functionist and labelling and I have dwelt on the Marxist theory of crime who base their argument on capitalism.
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