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Sociology - Crime and Deviance (Marxism)
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A 30 mark essay evaluating Marxism .
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AQA A -Level Sociology- Crime and Deviance Revision table
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Summary A-Level Sociology, ISBN: 9781782943549 Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
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Summary A-Level Sociology, ISBN: 9781782943549 Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
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Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the Contribution of Marxismto our Understanding of Crime and Deviance (30)
Item B
Marxism is a structural theory which sees society as a structure in which the economic base or infrastructure
determines the shape of the superstructure which is made up of all the other social institutions, including the
state, the law and the criminal justice system. Their function is to serve ruling-class interests and maintain
the capitalist economy.
Marxists believe that crime is inevitable in capitalism because the very nature of capitalism causes crime
because it results in poverty and inequality as well as alienation and powerlessness for the working-class
and the poor. Moreover, capitalism is a ‘dog eat dog’ system of ruthless competition whilst the profit motive
encourages a mentality of greed and self-interest. Consequently Marxists argue, we should not be too
surprised at the existence of white collar and corporate crime.
Marxism is a conflict theory established by Karl Marx. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is just a way
in which the ruling classes (the bourgeoisie) control and exploit the working class (the proletariat), and it
focuses on the unequal conflict between these two sectors of society. Marxists believe that society is set up
unequally to benefit the bourgeoisie in expense of the proletariat and they argue the power in society is held
by those who control the means of production. As item B states, Marxists see crime in the capitalist system
as ‘serving ruling class interests’’ where they can control the working class and crime is an unavoidable
result because of the oppression the working class are subject to. They also argue that laws are enforced
mostly to benefit the interests of the ruling class which is a significant, underlying factor when analysing the
different marxist contributions to our understanding of crime and deviance.
One way Marxism has contributed to our understanding of crime and deviance is through their argument that
the law is selectively enforced disproportionately against the working class and that therefore the official
crime statistics cannot be taken at face value. They argue the capitalist state passes laws which benefit the
ruling class as laws are not the will of the people, as the ruling class are responsible for law-making, thus
performing an ideological function for capitalism. Althusser argues that the law is an ideological state
apparatus which serves the interests of capitalists by maintaining and legitimating class inequality. This is
due to society functioning “to serve the ruling class and maintain the capitalist economy.” Marxists see
institutions such as the state and law making as only serving the interests of the capitalist class whereby the
law performs an ideological function by giving capitalism what Pearce calls a “caring face”. This is argued by
Snider who suggests the ruling class will be reluctant to pass laws that will be a threat to their profit, such as
health and safety legislation. This leaves the proletariat to be exploited in the workplace and so Marxists
argue that they are more likely to be deviant and commit crime as a result. Chambliss demonstrated how the
introduction of colonial tax laws in Britan’s East Africa colonies protected the interests of white plantation
owners. Britans economic interests laid in the colonies tea, coffee and plantations where they required a
supply of local labour, thus forcing the reluctant african population to work for them in order to pay their tax.
The supply of local goods globally highlights the Concentrated ownership of distribution going to developed,
powerful countries while being made in developing, poor countries. This also significantly highlights how the
creation of laws serves the economic interest of capitalists while exploiting those less powerful where they
gain at the expense of others. Chambliss and Mankoff argue how most of these laws serve to keep the
working class people away from property, arguably in order to maintain the two divided groups in society
argued by Marxists; the bourgeoisie, who own the means of production, and the proletariat whose alienated
labour the bourgeoisie exploit to produce profit. However this can be criticised by the fact that the criminal
justice system does sometimes act against the interests of the capitalist class. For example, prosecutions for
corporate crime do occur. Marxists counteract this and argue that such occasional prosecutions perform an
ideological function in making the system seem partial. Additionally, Functionalists would criticize the idea
that the enforcement and creation of laws perform ideological functions for capitalism as they see the law as
reflecting the value consensus and representing the interests of society as a whole. They would argue that
laws provide external social control for individuals to internalize norms and values and to reaffirm society’s
shared rules and enforce social solidarity. Therefore punishments provided by the law involve negative
sanctions that proscribe certain behaviors and punish rule breakers that do not fit in with the ‘norm’, serving
as a deterrence for society.
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