Agree with labelling theorists that the law is
enforced disproportionately against the w/class so
official stats cannot be taken at face value
Criticise labelling theory for failing to
examine the wider structure of
capitalism within which law making,
enforcing and offending take place
Structural theory - sees society as a structure
in which the economic base (capitalist
economy) determines the shape of the
structure which is made up of all institutions
Criminogenic capitalism
Crime is inevitable in capitalism because capitalism is
criminogenic - causes crime by its very nature
Capitalism is based on the
exploitation of the working
class which may give rise to
crime:
Poverty may mean crime is the only way w/class can survive
Crime may be the only way they can obtain consumer
goods encouraged by capitalist advertising
Alienation and lack of control may lead to frustration and aggression
However, crime is not confined to the w/class -
capitalism is a 'dog eat dog' system of ruthless
competition, therefore businesses must win at all
costs of go out of business
Encourages capitalists to commit white collar
crime and corporate crimes such as tax
evasion
The state and law making
Law making and enforcement only serves
the interests of the ruling class
The ruling class have the power to prevent the introduction of
laws that would threaten their interests - e.g. there are few laws
that challenge the unequal distribution of wealth
Snider - capitalist state is reluctant to
pass laws that would threaten their
profitability
Selective enforcement - while
powerless groups e.g. the
w/class and ethnic minorities
are criminalised, the police
and courts tend to ignore the
crimes of the powerful
Ideological functions of crime and law
Laws are occasionally passed that appear to be for the benefit of the
w/class rather than capitalism, e.g. health and safety laws
Pearce - these laws benefit the ruling class too; e.g. by keeping
workers fit for work, thus creating false consciousness among workers
Due to selective law enforcement, crime appears to be a
largely w/class phenomenon - this divides the w/class by
encouraging workers to blame the criminals for their
problems, rather than capitalism
The media and some criminologists also portray
criminals as disturbed individuals, concealing the
fact that capitalism is to blame
Evaluation of
Marxism
Offers a useful explanation of the relationship between crime and
capitalist society - showing the link between law making and
enforcement and the interests of r/class
Left realists - Marxism ignores
intra-class crimes (where both
criminals and victims are w/class)
Largely ignores relationship between crime and
non-class inequalities e.g. ethnicity and gender
Not all capitalist societies have high crime
rates; e.g. Japan and Switzerland
CJS sometimes does act against the
interests of the capitalist class, e.g.
prosecutions for corporate crime do
occur
Too deterministic and exaggerates the
amount of w/class crime; not all poor
people commit crime