The book Towards a Marxian Theory of Deviance as depicted by Steven Spitzer develops a unique analogy of the production of the deviance in the capitalistic society and critiques the traditional theories that explain deviance. The Marxist theory does not focus on an individual only but other aspects such as the political environment. However, it should be noted that deviancy is closely associated to those in power and the economic stance of the country. Capitalism requires addition population to work effectively. Spitzer discussed two types of groups that arise from capitalism. One of them is the social junk. It defines the people that prove to be a burden in the society. It may include the older adults, the sickly people, or those who refuse and are unable. The other is the social dynamite. These are the individuals who seem to be a threat to the society, and they need to be closely monitored as quickly as possible.
The five conditions that must be met. One of them is normalization, which occurs when the deviance processing is reduced without doing a replacement, and therefore at this level, it requires the creation of invisible deviants that can easily blend in the society. The second condition is the conversion. It is a way that can be used to reduce the amount of money that can be used. This is mainly done through recruiting potential troublemakers in the society can be recruited to the police or even in the social work services. The deviant people would then be rehabilitated. This is to mean that if a large number of people can be controlled, then there should be no worry about threats.
Containment is the third condition, which is a policy that entails the geographical seclusion of people who have committed an offense and are found guilty of committing an offense. This kind of strategy has always been surveillant. This means that the controllers of the capitalist economy ensure that the social junk are monitored closely and their steps being regulated while at the secluded zones. The fourth condition is the support for criminal enterprise. These criminals might be in crime due to poverty. They may be seeking basic needs and therefore whenever they have a small business enterprise, it should be supported. The fifth condition is teaching them social norms. This can be done in the various correctional facilities. These facilities enhance the creativity of the criminals and most importantly, it changes their attitude towards life. However, some people have criticized spritzers work. For instance, his work has been criticized for lacking consistency related to historical artifacts. Secondly, some Marxist laws are also not clear and can be interpreted differently by people.
Question 2
In this section, Meda Chesney’s work and the broken window will be thoroughly handled. The work is subdivided into sections of the similar items between the two theories. The items that are not similar and then wrap it up with the assumptions each of the author made about life.
One dissimilar item between the two theories is that the broken window theory champions for correcting people who commit minor crimes. This means that the theory is mainly focusing on the social welfare of human beings while the ecological systems theory mainly focuses on the environment itself.
Both theories are related to human development in that the ecological theory focuses on the development of natural resources for a better living while the broken window focuses on the social welfare of the people at large. In addition, the theories are forms of policing. On one hand, the broken window is a form policing regarding the quality of life. On the other hand, the ecological theory is a form of environmental policing that identifies the environmental systems that an individual interacts with.
Chesney assumed that technology has not contributed to the environmental degradation but the sole behavior of human beings. The assumption that was made in the broken windows theory is that crime is based on minor activities. Therefore, it ignores the compelling factors such as poverty and critical factors such as the basic needs.
Work Cited
Spitzer, Steven. “Toward a Marxian Theory of Deviance.” Social Problems, vol. 22, no. 5, 1975, pp. 638–651.
