Social control and its role in maintaining order under capitalism

Marxist sociologists highlight the importance of social control in maintaining order within society, but they argue it serves a specific purpose under capitalism. Unlike functionalists who believe social control benefits everyone by limiting deviance, Marxists see it as a mechanism to protect the interests of the ruling class.

Mechanisms of social control in capitalist societies

• Exploitative system - Capitalism is viewed as inherently exploitative, requiring strict control to prevent rebellion or revolution by the working class.
• Ruling-class benefit - Social control mechanisms are designed to safeguard the ruling class, often working against the majority, who are the working class.
• Hegemony - Neo-Marxist thinker Gramsci (1971) introduced the concept of hegemony, describing how ruling-class ideology dominates through institutions like the legal system, socialising individuals to accept these ideas as normal.

The criminogenic nature of capitalist society

Marxists argue that capitalism itself fosters criminal behaviour by creating conditions that drive individuals to commit crimes. This perspective labels capitalist society as 'criminogenic', meaning it inherently produces crime.

Factors making capitalism criminogenic

• Working-class struggles - The exploitation of the working class often leads to poverty, pushing individuals to commit crimes like theft to meet basic needs such as food and shelter.
• Frustration and violence - Economic inequality and frustration among the working class can result in violent behaviour as a form of expression or resistance.
• Profit-driven crime - The relentless pursuit of profit in capitalism can lead to criminal acts across all classes, including fraud or blackmail, even among professionals and the ruling class.

Laws as tools of ruling-class interests

According to Marxist theory, laws in a capitalist society do not represent the collective will of the people but are instead crafted to serve the interests of the ruling class. This shapes the legal system to prioritise the protection of wealth and power.

How laws reflect ruling-class priorities

• Ruling-class creation - Laws are primarily made by the ruling class, reflecting their interests rather than those of the wider population.
• Property protection - Chambliss and Mankoff (1976) noted that much of UK law focuses on property, aiming to keep the working class away from the assets and land of the wealthy, as private property underpins capitalist exploitation.
• Limited public input - The majority of the population has little influence over the creation of laws or the nature of punishments.
• Minimal corporate regulation - Laureen Snider (1993) argued that laws regulating large businesses are limited and weakly enforced in capitalist societies to avoid threatening ruling-class profits, with industries like tobacco exerting pressure to avoid accountability.
• Illusory protection - Pearce (1976) suggested that even laws appearing to protect the working class, such as health and safety or consumer laws, ultimately serve ruling-class interests by ensuring a healthy, compliant workforce.

Unequal enforcement of laws in capitalist systems

Marxists contend that the application of laws in capitalist societies is not impartial, with significant disparities in how different classes are treated by the legal system and portrayed in the media.

Disparities in law enforcement and media portrayal

• Harm comparison - Snider (1993) pointed out that working-class crimes like burglary cause less societal harm than corporate crimes, such as violating health and safety regulations.
• Media bias - Ruling-class ideology, amplified by the media, often portrays working-class criminals as major threats to society, while corporate lawbreakers receive less criticism and more lenient treatment.
• Legal advantages - Wealthy individuals or company executives can afford top legal representation, reducing their likelihood of severe punishment.
• Elite crime networks - Chambliss (1978) studied crime in Seattle, uncovering an organised crime syndicate involving elite businessmen and politicians who used their influence and money to evade justice.
• Selective focus - Gordon (1976) argued that selective law enforcement and media reporting create the impression that crime is predominantly a working-class issue, diverting attention from ruling-class wrongdoing and fostering division within the working class by directing anger at individual criminals rather than the capitalist system.

Criticisms of traditional Marxist views on crime

While traditional Marxist theories provide a critical lens on crime and capitalism, they face several challenges and alternative perspectives that question their assumptions.

Challenges to traditional Marxist perspectives

• Crime beyond capitalism - Critics argue that capitalism is not inherently criminogenic, pointing to crime in socialist societies like Cuba and low crime rates in some capitalist countries like Switzerland.
• Patriarchy oversight - Feminists criticise traditional Marxism for neglecting the role of patriarchy in shaping laws and social control mechanisms.
• Overemphasis on corporate crime - Left-realist theorists, influenced by Marxism, argue that traditional views focus too heavily on corporate crime, downplaying the real harm caused by other offences like burglary, which often affect working-class victims.

Critical criminology and the concept of crime as a choice

Critical criminology, emerging from Marxist influences, offers a nuanced view of crime, suggesting that it is not merely a product of economic conditions but a deliberate act of resistance or choice.

Key ideas of critical criminology

• Origins in 'The New Criminology' - Taylor, Walton, and Young (1973) developed 'The New Criminology', aiming to advance Marxist analysis of crime by focusing on understanding deviance rather than eliminating it, challenging earlier Marxist views of criminals as passive victims of economic forces.
• Crime as a conscious choice - Unlike traditional Marxism, this theory posits that crime is a deliberate and meaningful choice, often an attempt to challenge or change the capitalist system.
• Examples of resistance - Criminal acts can be forms of political resistance, such as those by groups like the Black Panther Movement, or acts like robbery seen as redistributing wealth.
• Fully social theory of deviance - Taylor, Walton, and Young proposed a comprehensive framework to analyse deviance, considering factors like:
  • Distribution of wealth and power.
  • Unique circumstances surrounding each deviant act.
  • Nature of the act itself.
  • Societal reactions to deviance.
  • Authority over rules and responses to deviance.
  • Impact of being labelled as deviant.
  • Interconnections between these elements.

Application of critical criminology - Hall et al. (1978)

This study applied the 'fully social theory of deviance' to media coverage of muggings by black individuals during an economic crisis in the UK.

They examined:

• Social context - Economic downturn and threats to state power from unions and militants.
• State motivations - Desire to maintain control over the situation.
• Media motivations - Pursuit of sensational stories to capture public attention.
• Outcomes - Increased police arrests and media portrayal of muggers as a societal threat, creating an exaggerated moral panic that unfairly targeted specific groups.