Analysis of the Notion that Marxists Romanticise Working Class Crime - Essay Example

To Marxists, class distinction i.e. the difference between the working class and the ruling class is the worst form of injustice. The Marxists do not approve of capitalist societies. Such societies propagate the exploitation and oppression of the poor masses by the elite. The bourgeois are not the least concerned about the welfare of workers as their sole concern is on profitability. Consequently, the masses continue to struggle in an attempt to survive in times of hardship. The workers get a low deal in form of low wages and benefits which is not commensurate with long working hours and labor.

To Marxists, a time will come when the working class will become conscious of this exploitation and revolt against the ruling class. In the end, a new society will come to the place where there will be no private property, classes, and everyone will be equal. Karl Marx is the founder of critical criminology and his main concept is on class struggle. Marxist theories make reference to the disparity between workers and owners of production plants, industries, companies etc. The ruling class ensures the cost of labor is at a minimum while the selling price is at its highest.

Eventually, this brings about conflict between the two classes, and also impacts greatly on social and economic arrangements. At some point, these arrangements will determine what people know, what they value, believe, and their behavior. A crime refers to those actions, which break the law and are subject to executive reprimand. Marx in his works makes a few direct references to crime. Criminology is a general term about several different theoretical positions united by the widespread idea that society is best characterized by power and conflict rather than by value accord.

In Marx’s words, he describes criminals as the social scum which is the rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of the old society. Crime as we know it is a result of these unfair and alienating social conditions (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990, p.34-6). The beginning of crime in a capitalist society is usually a coherent response to the conditions in which individuals find themselves. Besides injustices, alienation is another theory central to serious criminology. The Marxists romanticize working class crime because they believe that the ruling class is oppressing the working class.

In the capitalist society, individual are alienated and do not derive satisfaction from work. Work is supposed is supposed to be enjoyable and creative, but instead it is oppressive. When people become isolated from themselves, they in turn separate themselves from others and the society. Isolated people may end up treating others as objects of exploitation and victimization. In the capitalist society, most workers are transformed to conformists or ‘dehumanized ritualists’. This explains the origin of crime in the Marxists view as the workers will spontaneously rebel against dehumanization.

Consequently, in Marxist view, a criminal is a hero who is in defiance of the authority and unfair conditions set by the ruling class! (Walsh and Hemmens, 2010, p.56). The origin of crime lays in the alienating and exploitative conditions of the capitalists. Capitalism breeds blunts altruism and egoism as there is increased competition for essential resources. This condition sets group against the group and person