Class, power and crime

Explaining class differences in crime

Official statistics show that working classes are more likely than higher classes to offend, different perspectives offer different explanations for this.
Functionalism sees crime as a product of inadequate socialisation into a shared culture, Miller argues that the lower class has an independent subculture opposed to the mainstream culture and this explains the higher rate of crime.
Strain theory argues that the class structure denies working class people opportunity to achieve by legitimate means, so they are more likely to ‘innovate’
Subcultural theories -Cohen sees working class youths as culturally deprived and unable to achieve in education. Failure gives rise to status frustration. As a solution, they form delinquent subcultures in which they gain status from peers. Cloward and Ohlin identify three deviant subcultures: criminal, conflict and Retreatist.
Labelling theory rejects the view that official statistics are a valid picture of which class commits the most crime. They focus on the role of law enforcement agencies, which have the power to label the working class as criminals.

Marxism, class and crime

Marxists agree that the law is enforced mainly against the working class and that official statistics are flawed.
But, they criticise labelling theory for ignoring the structure of capitalism within which law making, enforcement and offending takes place. Marxist explanations of crime flow from their analysis of the nature of capitalist society.
Marxism sees capitalist society as divided into the ruling capitalist class, who own the means of production, and the working class, whose labour the capitalists exploit for economic good.
Marxists see society as one where the capitalist economic base determines the superstructure i.e. all other institutions, including the state, the law and criminal justice system. Their function is to serve ruling-class interests. For Marxists, the structure of capitalism explains crime.

Criminogenic capitalism

Crime is inevitable in capitalism as capitalism is criminogenic – its very nature causes crime.
- Working class crime capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working class for profit and as a result:
  - Poverty may mean crime is the only way some can survive.
  - Crime may be the only way of obtaining consume goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimesg. theft.
  - Alienation may cause frustration and aggression, leading to nonutilitarian crime e.g. violence.
- Ruling class crime – Capitalism is a win-at-all-costs system of competition, while the profit motive encourages greed, this encourages capitalists to commit cooperate crimeg. tax evasion, breaking health and safety laws.
As Gordon notes, crime is a rational response to capitalism and thus is found in all classes.

The state and Law making

Marxists see law making and enforcement as serving the interests of the capitalist class.
- Chamblis argues that laws to protect private property are the basis of the capitalist economy.
The ruling class also have the power to prevent laws harmful to their interests. Few laws tackle the unfair distribution of income.

Selective enforcement

While all classes commit crime, there is selective enforcement of the law.
- Reiman shows the crime of the powerful are much less likely to be treated as criminal offences and prosecuted.
- Carson found that in a sample of 200 firms, all had broken health and safety laws, yet only 1.5% of cases were prosecuted.
- By contrast, there is a much higher prosecution rate for the crimes of the poor.

Ideological functions of crime and law

Some laws benefit workers e.g. health and safety. However, Pearce argues that these also benefit capitalism. By giving it a ‘caring’ face, they create false consciousness.
Because the state enforces the law selectively crime appears to be largely working class, this divides the working class, encouraging workers to blame working-class criminals for their problems, rather than capitalism.
Selective enforcement distorts the crime statistics. By making crime appear largely working class, it shifts attention from more serious ruling class crime.

Neo-Marxism: critical criminology

Neo-Marxists Taylor, Walton and Young agree with traditional Marxists that:
- Capitalism is based on exploitation and inequality. This is the key to understanding crime.
- The state makes and enforces laws in the interests of capitalism and criminalises the working class.
- Capitalism should be replaced by a classless society, which would reduce crime.

Voluntarism

However, Taylor et al take a more voluntarisitc view (the idea we have free will): crime is a conscious choice often with political motiveg. to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. Criminals are deliberately struggling to change society.

A fully social theory of deviance

Taylor et al aim to create a ‘fully social theory of deviance’ – a comprehensive theory that would help to change society for the better. This theory would have two main sources:
- Marxist ideas about the unequal distribution of wealth and who has the power to make and enforce the law.
- Labelling theory’s ideas about the meaning of the deviant act for the actor, societal reactions to it, and the effects of the deviant label on the individual.

Crimes of the powerful

Although all classes commit crime, the law is selectively enforced and higher-class and corporate offenders are less likely to be prosecuted.
White collar crime – Sutherland defines this as crime committed by a person of respectability and high status in the course of his occupation.
- Occupational crime committed by employees for personal gaing. stealing from the company.
- Corporate Crime (CC) committed for the company’s benefit.
The scale of corporate crime, CC does far more harm than ordinary crime, it has enormous physical, environmental and economic costs. Tombs concludes that CC is widespread, routine and pervasive, it includes.
- Financial crimes – tax evasion
- Crimes against consumers – e.g. selling unfit goods
- Crimes against employees – breaking health and safety laws.
- Crimes against the environment – toxic waste dumping

The abuse of trust.

Professionals occupy positions of trust and respectability that give them the opportunity to violate this trustg. accountants have been involved in tax fraud or money laundering.
In Sutherlands view this makes white collar crime a greater threat to society than working class ‘street; crime because it promotes distrust of key institutions and undermines the fabric of society.

The invisibility of corporate crime

CC is often invisible, or else not seen as ‘real’ crime because:
- The media gives very limited coverage to CC and often describe it as technical infringements. This reinforces the view that crime is a working class phenomenon.
- Lack of political will to tackle CC.
- CC is complex – law enforcers are under-resourced and lack of technical expertise to investigate effectively.
- De-labelling – offences are often defined as civil; penalties are often fines, not jail.
- Under-reporting – often the victim is society at large rather than an individual, victims may not now they have been victimised, not regard it as ‘real’ crime, or feel powerless and not report the offence.

Explanations of corporate crime

Strain theory – if a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit legitimately it will turn to illegal methods, Clinard and Yeager found that companies losing money turned to illegal methods.
Differential association – Sutherland sees crime as socially learned so if a company’s deviant subculture justifies committing crime, employees will be socialised into criminality and may learn ‘techniques of neutralisation’ to justify their crimes.
Labelling – An act only counts as a crime if it has been labelled as such, companies often have the power to avoid labellinge. expensive lawyers, the inability of enforcement agencies to investigate effectively also reduces the amount of offences labelled.
Marxism is above