“Examine some ways in which Marxists explain crime” (21 marks)

Crime, depending on an individual’s interpretation of it, can be described in many ways. Functionalists and Marxists both have different opinions, but traditional Marxists and neo Marxists also have some different explanations.

Traditional Marxists believe the structure of a capitalist society explains crime. Their view of crime has three main elements, these are criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making and ideological functions of crime and law. Traditional Marxists believe that crime is inevitable because it is criminogenic. They suggest that capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working class, they believe the way in which they are exploited can be particularly damaging and this could potentially be a reason for crime increasing. They feel as though poverty that is experienced by the working class may be a reason for crime as it is the only way they can survive, they also suggest that alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes such as violence and vandalism. Not only this, traditional marxists also believe that law making and law enforcement as only serving the interests of the capitalist class, Chambliss argues that laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy.

Traditional marxists also say that the law, crime and criminals perform an ideological function for capitalism. Laws are occasionally passed to to benefit the working class rather than capitalism, examples of this are workplace health and safety laws. Despite this, Frank Pearce argues that laws that may be aimed at the working class, can also benefit the ruling class to. This is because the law essentially keeps the working class “fit to work”.