Critical criminologists have rejected Marxism's approach to explaining the present problems facing the criminal justice system for the past few years. White collar criminals do not, however, receive the appropriate punishment for their offenses. The most detrimental to the economy crimes can be committed by the ruling elite. These criminals have the means and power to hire the best defense attorneys, increasing their chances of being found innocent. (Coleman 2005 pg 8). The impoverished offenders, on the other hand, face severe penalties and are represented by state attorneys. The differences in treatment of justice between the rich and the poor can be attributed to the structure of the society defines the manner in which people can pursue economic needs. According to Marxism theory, the regime that controls the machinery and human labor is the economically rich and political leaders who have wealth, technology and power, thus leading to class struggles (Walsh and Ellis 2007 pg 2). Marxist criminology insists that crime is caused by those in the lower strata fighting for better share better share of resources forms those in the high social, economic ladder. Those who control resources pay little to the workers and therefore affect the natural flow of resources to the needy. As a result, the disadvantaged members of the society are driven into crimes. While Marxism approach to current crimes can be used to explain crimes related to unequal sharing of resources, the theory fails to account for offences driven by needs beyond economic wants such as sexual assaults.
The current high rate of crimes can be explained using Marxism with the idea that workers are alienated from the human nature and therefore turn to crime. According to Crowling (2011, pg. 6), crimes break the law with the possible motive of defending human values. The alienation argument considers that alienation of people form their natural being. According to Marx’s ideology of alienation, human beings are naturally communal and loving, but these traits are eroded and placed to their economic life through the acts of state, religion, labor. The role of class struggle in understanding crime has been noted by Moore and Morris (2011 pg. 6), who argue that stereotypes about race and crime have been examined with the white supporting established of harsher punishment of criminals and stringent policies on sentencing and rehabilitation. The dominant white groups see themselves as threatened and in conflict with African-Americans. This has led to higher manipulation and control by using the criminal justice system (Moore and Morris, 201 pg. 6).Since this power is directed against these people, they get as a feeling of being dominated by the ruling class. However, this approach is ambiguous as it suggests that the goal of a socialist society is to reduce human labor to let them remain creative, communal and loving (Crowling, 2011 pg 6). Worrall notes that within the radical criminology, the crime must be explained by a capitalist mode of production rather than the loss of morals on the part of the offender (2007 pg. 7). Behind the legal justice system lays a mechanism that protects the oppressive social order and it is this inequality that results in the high incidence of crime experienced today. According to Taylor, Walton and Young, a social theory of deviance must be used to understand the connection between inequalities of power within societies and actions of deviance (1973 pg 2).
The Marxist approach to understanding crime and punishments recognize that while people from all social classes commit crimes, it is usually the young males in the lower social class who are mostly punished. The serious crimes committed by white collar criminals like the state and police officers are mostly ignored (Box, 1987 pg. 46). The nature of law and order is restricted to the disciplinary character of a capitalist market where social order does not necessarily mean the absence of riots but an acceptance of capital and labor relations. Worrall (2007 pg 4) notes that police have been used to help advance the interests of the rich members and accepted the institutions that protect this individual by punishing practices that are mostly common with the poor. The modern police force, according to Wacquant (2001 pg. 3), is not a result of the need for law and order but rather a bureaucratic mechanism that developed form a modern capitalist order. Thus, punishment for crimes is a design meant to enforce labor and protect the capitalist mode of production with the police being mobilized to enforce the rule of the bourgeois.
In a capitalist society, there is a lot of pressure for individuals to make money and become successful in a short time given by the competitive system. Survival in the society is for those who are more competitive and committing a crime to become successful may appear insignificant when compared to the pressure mounted by the society for individuals to succeed. The values associated with capitalism, according to Marxism theory on crime, erodes traditional values of and norms by advocating for an individualistic and materialistic approach to life (Hirst 1972 pg. 9). Burglars, thieves and other offenders are pressured by the society to seek personal gain and therefore care less for the life of their victims. For a Marxist criminologist, crimes are widespread in all social classes, but the poor offenders are given harsher punishments than their wealthy counterparts. The corporate and white collar crimes committed by the upper levels cost more and have greater economic impacts on the society than the crime committed by lower classes. The Marxism approach current criminal justice system brings the idea that laws are designed to promote the interest of the ruling members an people have unequal treatment when it comes to criminal justice (Messerschmitt, 1986 pg. 1) influential people with a lot of wealth he the means to hire good layers, which increase their chances of being found not guilty even when their crimes are apparent to the public. Thus, punishment for crimes depends on the social status of the perpetrator.
The current law of crime and punishment, about Marxism theory, is a law of property. Worrall (2007 pg 6) explains that the current lack of better means of compensation for the victims of crime explains why crime justice system is an instrument for the rich. Neary argues that victim of crime are protected indirectly since the true aim of the law is to maintain the rights of property (2006 pg 6). Such observations auger well with Marxists to blame the current justice systems as a tool for the upper class (Welch, M., 1998 pg. 9). The importance of money and property in the discussion of crime and punishment is based on the recognition of the central role of the dominating class. For example, the provisions from community punishment involving compulsory and unpaid work elaborate the effect of money and property in the criminal justice. Other theorists may see such a scheme regarding its effectiveness with which it fulfills its aims and objectives of improving the life skills of the offender and discouraging the immoral behavior. However, a Marxist will see such a scheme by dormant capitalist who uses the criminal justice system to get free human labor.
Capitalist has increased consumerism through advertisements, and as a result, the desire to succeed in the society has increased tenfold. Large corporations spend billions of dollars on ads not with the intention of passing information but with the main aim of making a profit (Holt 2002 pg. 72). As a result, advertisements have become an art of persuasion and disinformation that does not bring the reality of processes involved in making products. Without the culture of consumerism, modern capitalism could not exist. For the rest of the society that has no means to achieve great success through hard work, feeling of failure and dissatisfactions experienced and may lead them to criminal behavior. For example, American advertisements not only emphasis the product itself, but create a concept of lifestyle as a way of living to lure people into punishing the product (Goodwin et al. 2008 pg 16). For the poor members of the society, a feeling of frustration arises especially when the product being advertised are beyond their reach due to their poor economic condition. Capitalists use advertisement to brainwash people into a life of excessive expenditure that can be afforded by the rich and the affluent. To those who cannot afford, advertises brings a feeling of dissatisfaction and may explain the high rates of crimes. Capitalist further creates materialism and cause people place more value on material goods, which makes them more capable of committing crimes for material gain.
Assessment of penal theory using Marxism approach fails to account for crimes such as sexual assault and violence. Worrall notes that by putting too much emphasis on the economic foundations of authority ad power dynamics in the society, the Marxism approach is limited to analysis of crime and punishment to crimes like burglar and theft. Cameron and Frazier note that the violent nature of men towards women is not limited to one particular social class (1987, pg. 118) but occurs even in non-capitalist societies. Thus, the punishing of crimes cannot be based solely on the theory of capitalism. The importance of Marxism is thus limited in debates about crimes and punishment of the nature of sexual assaults. Additionally, Marxism is limited by the concern to which criminals can make sense of the demand of capitalism and put their demands. according to Box (1987 PG 197), is unlikely that a current police officer finds not fault in understanding what capitalists expect form him/her.
In contrary to Marxism theory, feminists see the society as dominated by the ruling male who benefit at the expense of females. Feminists argue that crime and punishment should be seen from all perspectives instead of limiting discussion to the polarization of the rich and the poor (Daisy 2006 pg.1). They argue that social institutions help maintain the subordinate position of women and the unfair division of gender. According to the feminism thought on criminology, theories on crime such as Marxism are established by male subjects and that issues on crime fail to look at the crime itself (Gelsthorpe 2003 pg.1). For a feminist criminologist, Marxism approach to crime and punishment, and other theories of crime, reflect the views of males and their solutions are not gender sensitive (Scranton 1990 pg. 3). According to Simpson (1989 pg. 1), the current criminal justice system gives lighter punishment to women who conform to traditional stabled roles, whiles females who fail to adhere to these roles are given harsher punishments.
Another disadvantage of relying on Marxism theory to explain crime and punishment is the fact that most cries are perpetrated against the powerless memes in the society. In support of this notion, Cohen notes that it’s usually the weak and the marginalized who are victims of crimes (1998 Pg 4). Furthermore, the criminal justice system cannot be seen as repressive regime but rather a rule of the majority. Cohen further accuses Marxism of attacking the utilitarian traditional that sought to bring penal reforms (1998 pg 106). Maguire (1997 pg 143) note that positivism entails the simple acceptance of conventional definitions of crime by fusing on class offenders. Furthermore, the interpretation of Karl max approach to crime is that a communism society is an ideal system to eliminate crime. Authors such as Reiman (1998) and Chambliss (2013) have argued that reforms based on socialism ideologies would reduce crimes. Such notions are based on the belief that factors that make people commit the crime, such as hunger, starvation and lack of basic needs would disappear and people would no longer have reason to break the law. However, the satisfaction of one level of human wants ignites the need of other wants in the hierarchy of human wants (Udechukwu, 2009 pg. 2).Some want in the higher level, such as cars and mansions would also trigger people into crimes if not met. Crawling notes that these wants and needs are not sustainable ecologically for all people (2007 pg. 12). Thus a Marxist socialist society that has greatly reduced social class struggles that are common in a capitalist society would still have the problems facing the modern criminal justice system.
Current capitalism has been blamed for the high incidence of crimes. The theory of class struggle by Karl Marx brings to light how political and government process influence crime and delinquency to protect the interest of the upper class. This theory is related to choice and conflict and the dynamics of power within the society. Karl max developed the ideology on class conflicts that can be used to understand current approaches to crime and punishment. In this approach, the upper class control the justice system to promote its interest at the expense of the poor. This is evidenced by the ability of the rich people to get less severe punishment for crimes in comparison to blue-collar offenders. The unfair treatment of crimes has been seen to contribute to high incidence of crime evidenced by the recent misunderstanding between African-Americans and White. However, some forms of crime such as sexual assault are committed regardless of social class. The assumption that lack of needs such as food is the cause of crime fails to look at offences that are committed at all levels of social class
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