Introduction - Sociological Theories on Crime Explained
Marxism refers to the theory that points out the struggle between the social classes. Thus the main focus of this theory lies on the oppression that is critically faced by different social classes. This theory is developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This theory places the emphasis on the historical evidence of mass exploitation that the weaker section has been subjected to, by the dominant classes. This class struggle has been the main evidence of historical evidence of change across society. Functionalism on the contrary refers to the system that propagates the idea of constructive thinking from the large scale perspective. It analyses the necessary structure that developed a societal pattern. These fundamental concepts also state the entire procedures regarding how each part helps to keep the entire society stable and in an appropriate situation of equilibrium. This explorative essay places the analytical description on how the sociological approaches explained the core concepts of crime. This has been discussed from an argumentative perspective.
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Thesis statement: This essay evaluates the sociological approaches in the context of crimes with the adoption of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’s.
Analysis
Early sociological approaches
Functionalism: Functionalism can be delineated as the robust concept of thinking based on the perspective of large scale observations. Hence it takes into consideration functionalism from a wider perspective. This approach examined the structure that develops a society from larger dimensions. This approach also examined each of the fragments parts that collectively help to keep the societal pattern in its stable state. As opined by Remmling and Lavine (2022), the roots of the functionalism are very deep-rooted. Thus, according to functionalism, society is progressing toward a state of equilibrium. As per the functionalist perspective in sociology, every aspect of society is set to be independent and contributes to the profound stability of society. As for example the government provides proper education for children across the country. The family in exchange pays the tax that is levied on them. This collected amount in the form of tax is then used to keep the nation in its normal state. The family is also dependent on the educational institution that helps their children to grow and get a good source of income so that they can in turn support their own families. On the contrary, von Scheve (2022) stated that “Social Functionalist Theory” works on certain basic premises that impact the social structure. In this entire process, the children become a proper law abiding citizen who also consecutively pays taxes. This in turn supports the state. Hence as per the underpinning influence of this theory, all of these separate parts produce order and stability to the entire society. However, if all these parts of society do not resonate in a similar pattern then, then society should accept and try to adopt a new order and stability that would lead to the overall productivity. For example in the utmost situational crisis such as in a time of financial recession, the rate of unemployment automatically increases. On the contrary, Theiler (2022) argued that Functionalism is often referred to as one of the most intellectual chapters in the aspect of international integration. This also pushes the bar of inflationary pressure across the entire economy. In such a catastrophic consequence the social programmes are forced to curtail and are trimmed down. Schools and educational institutions offer fewer programmes. From the family perspective, the small families also restrict their budgets. Hence it automatically leads to the development of new social order, productivity and stability across the entire society.
Marxism: The oppression of the dominant section of society against the lower section of society was highlighted by this Marxism theory. In this theory, Karl Marx had developed a new form of socioeconomic analysis. The deployment of the methods of Marxism, different sociologists could outline the presence of dominant and regressive power structures that were present across the society (Nickerson, 2022). This theory also helped to ideate the effect of these influential powers on the people and within the context of society. The Maxims draw a sharp contrast between the two prospective groups of the society. This includes the proletariat, and the bourgeoisie. As per the perspective of Marx, the Bourgeoisie explored the lower class that is the labour of the proletariat for the profit motives. As argued by Remmling (2022), Marxism is referred to as the storm centre and pivotal point of knowledge in the domain of sociology. The Bourgeoisie class is also segmented and differentiated from the proletariat as they owned the absolute means of production. This included every resource that was needed to produce goods in society. This profound inability to control their own work resulted in the absolute deprivation among the two classes. This also resulted in the loss of creative autonomy.
Ideation of crimes by the sociological approaches
The sociological theory of crime can be witnessed as a trial to interpret the crime through the arrangement of the society across the societal conditions. This also explains the deviation or the robust crime final behaviour by analysing the circumstances where these crimes occur and originate and develop. The Functionalist on the contrary believes and argues that the society needs a certain element of the crime. This is primarily due to the fact that these elements of crimes are inevitable and also serve pivotal functions (Studysmarter.co.uk, 2023). In this context, different theorists argue for the overall role of social control, strain and the overall influence of different subcultures that ultimately constitute the crimes. The Marxist on the contrary, states that most of the crime can be effectively prevented by separating the capital structures but there have to be disagreements on the origins of the crime (Studysmarter.co.uk, 2023). The Marxist also believes that the "criminal justice system" of the society operates on the basis of the interest of the ruling class and it does not operate parallel to the societal structures. The interaction or the "Social action theory also amplifies the fact that any element of the crime is constructed socially. The theories also state that there are no deviant cats or underpinning regulations. As argued by Vegh Weis (2023), power imbalances contribute to crime across society.
There are certain acts that are highlighted as the criminal activities or deviant by the society. This is based on the accused person that is directly held responsible for the performing of the act. The mass and moral panic plays a pivotal part in this context. On the contrary, Rock (2022), argues that most of functionalism resonates with and ideates the assertions made by the Marxists. The generation of the right realism as well as the left realism was primarily intended to place the victims at the centre. This is mainly done to devise more practical solutions to the criminal aspects and the crime. However, in this context, the right realism held individualism responsible for the crime. On the other hand, left realism mainly focuses on the social inequality that impacts the societal structure and development. The Marxism argues that the economic system of the capitalist economy is itself responsible for the development of the crime (Mau, 2023). The theorist states that the entire system is developed from the perspective of exploiting the working class by the dominant and power calls that usually are the rulers of the social condition. This has catastrophic misbalance across society. This exploitation leads to the accumulation of the wealth in the hand of the ruling class and this also contributes to the increasing poverty across the exploited class of the society. On the contrary, the Functionalist approach argues that crime is a beneficial element for society. This is primarily because it leads to the improvement of social integration. As argued by Koh (2020), the functionalist influences the conflicting criminal procedural norms. It has been opined that crime also develops the social regulation that is necessary for robust social change and development across society. The functionalist analysis begins with the ideation of the society as a whole part. This theory illustrates the crime by looking at the nature of society as a whole and not from the perspective of the individuals.
The sociological approaches of Functionalism and Marxism are represented in the above analysis. The essay envisages the analytical deduction of both these pivotal aspects. Functionalisms refer to the idea of taking cognizance of the society as a whole. Thus it amplified the analytical horizon by studying the robust implications from a vast perspective. The Marxism, on the other hand, refers to the struggles that inherently depict the oppression that is faced by the low power class as being subjected to the oppression of the powerful classes. The essay also articulates the respective understanding of the bother the pivotal sociological aspects of Marxism and Functionalism in the domain of crime. The functionalism stresses that a certain element of crime is undoubtedly needed in societal arrangements. But Marxism holds conflicting viewpoints. They state that most of the crime is undesirable to a certain extent and mainly originates due to the imbalance that exists in the accumulation of the power across the hands of individuals in society.
Mau, S., 2023. Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital. Verso Books. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=e22cEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=how+marxism+understand+the+crime&ots=sA4xtg1Y0d&sig=ZCECIHkZBUOiQgcSjktaw2SoJXs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Nickerson. C (2022). What Is Marxism?Available from https://www.simplypsychology.org/marxism.html. Accessed on 12/1/2022.
Remmling, G.W. and Lavine, T.Z., 2022. Karl Mannheim and contemporary functionalism. In Towards the Sociology of Knowledge (pp. 245-257). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003074359-23/karl-mannheim-contemporary-functionalism-gunter-remmling-thelma-lavine
Remmling, G.W., 2022. Marxism and Marxist sociology of knowledge. In Towards the sociology of knowledge (pp. 135-152). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003074359-13/marxism-marxist-sociology-knowledge-gunter-remmling-gunter-remmling
Rock, P., 2022. Deviance. In Social Problems and Mental Health (pp. 49-57). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003261919-15/deviance-paul-rock
Studysmarter.co.uk (2023). Sociological Theories of Crime. Available from https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/social-studies/crime-and-deviance/sociological-theories-of-crime/#:~:text=Crime%20%2D%20Key%20takeaways-,Sociological%20theories%20of%20crime%20try%20to%20interpret%20crime%20through%20societal,also%20performs%20significant%20positive%20functions. Accessed on 12/1/2023.
Theiler, T., 2022. International functionalism and democracy. European Journal of International Relations, p.13540661211073081. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661211073081
Vegh Weis, V., 2023. A Marxist Analysis of International Criminal Law and Its Potential as a Counter-Hegemonic Project. In International Criminal Law—A Counter-Hegemonic Project? (pp. 63-84). TMC Asser Press, The Hague. 10.1007/978-94-6265-551-5_4
von Scheve, C., 2022. Why functionalist accounts of emotion tend to be tenuous in social and cultural contexts. A commentary. Cognition and Emotion, 36(3), pp.406-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2022.2047010
