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Marxist Perspectives on Crime, Since the origins of this theory, the…

- - - - Poverty may mean that crime is the only way that the working class can survive
        
        Crime may be the only way they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in theft
        
        Alienation and lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in violence and vandalism
      - Gordon argues that crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and is therefore founded in all social classes
        
        Despite statistics making it appear to be a w/c phenomenon
      - HOWEVER, this assumes that crime is confined to the working class. White-collar crime is encouraged by the profit motive in businesses.
  - - - Chambliss argues that laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy:
        
        The introduction of English Law into their East African colonies:
        
        Britain was economically interested in plantations that needed labour
        
        To force the African population to work for them, the British introduced a tax payable in cash, which non-payment of was a criminal offence
        
        Africans had to get jobs to pay this tax, meaning that the law served the interests of the capitalist plantation owners.
      - The ruling class also have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that would threaten their interests, e.g few laws that challenge the unequal distribution of wealth
        
        Snider argues that the capitalist stae is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activittes of business or threaten profitability
  - - - Pearce argues that laws that appear to benefit the working class e.g workplace health and safety, keep workers fit to work, and also give capitalism a 'caring face' to create a false class consciousness.
      - These laws are often not enforced e.g law against corporate homicide has been in place since 2007, only one successful prosecution, despite the large numbers of death attributed to employer negligence.
      - Because the state enforces law selectively, crime appears working-class phenomenon. This divides the working class by encouraging them to blame criminals, rather than capitalism, for their problems.
      - Media also conceal the fact that it is the nature of capitalism that makes people criminals.
- - - - Take a voluntarisitic view. Crime is a meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor. Criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by capitalism.