Crime & Society

[Ander]

I was inspired by a thread on street gangs to begin a discussion on the causes and effects of crime in a capitalist society. Often times I find the members of this board claiming that the blame for criminal activity is to be placed on capitalism, but I recall far fewer actual explanations.

First of all, into what kind of categories can we divide crime?
Certainly there are some that are economic and some that are not? Robbing a store or selling illegal drugs can be considered crimes that are driven by economic factors, but is it fair to categorize rape the same way? What about violent crimes that seem to have little monetary basis? What about the actions committed by serial killers, for example?

What are the origins of crime?
Is crime truly encouraged by capitalism? Is it allowed to continue under a capitalist system?

What are the effects of crime?
How does it affect the social, political, and economic aspects of society?

What can we do about crime?
Is there really any cure under capitalism? Are we doomed to live in a world of crime as long as economic inequality exists?

I'm not sure whether this is the right forum for this but either way I hope this topic is able to spark some serious discussion.

[Hit The North]

A few comments, not meant to be definitive:


What are the origins of crime?
Is crime truly encouraged by capitalism? Is it allowed to continue under a capitalist system?

The origin of crime is in its definition imposed by ruling authorities. By definition, crime is an act which breaks the law and invites punitive sanctions against the perpetrator. From this definition it is clear that crime precedes capitalism. Nevertheless, the amount of behaviour which is deemed criminal expands exponentially under capitalism as does the amount of resources deployed in the maintenance of social control.

Given that much crime is involved in the "illegitimate" acquisition and circulation of commodities, it is promoted by capitalism. Further, because capitalism produces inequality in the distribution of 'social goods', it creates the motivation for crime and, due to the dominant ideology of competitive, acquisitive individualism, it promotes crime as a rational response to inequality between individuals. Engels remarks somewhere that crime is an understandable reaction to inequality but one doomed to failure due to its mistaken individualism.


What are the effects of crime?
How does it affect the social, political, and economic aspects of society?

Crime has many effects and these effects will be determined by the type of crime being committed. However, the majority of crime is committed by the poor on the poor.

One obvious effect of a "high crime society" is that it allows the State to extend its control over society. However, like most phenomena in a class society, crime occupies a contradictory position. On the one hand the bourgeois state is responsible for criminalizing behaviour and supports a system of exploitation which encourages crime. But on the other hand, much of the state's legitimacy is bound up with its ability to protect citizens from crime.


What can we do about crime?
Is there really any cure under capitalism? Are we doomed to live in a world of crime as long as economic inequality exists?

There is a persistent relationship between inequality and crime rates. The more equal the society the less crime is found. Therefore the struggle against crime is also the struggle against inequality and the system which creates it.

So I would give a definite 'yes' to your final question.

[MarxSchmarx]

Serious crime is really a form of individual and social malfunction, and a lot of things have to go wrong for crime to happen.

People turn to crime for all sorts of reasons; capitalism directly causes economic crimes (read drugs and property crime), against which the majority of law enforcement activity is aimed.

Capitalism also exacerbates the propensity of non-economic criminals like serial killers and rapists to commit crimes b/c it needlessly atomizes and provokes deranged and dangerous individuals. It also contributes to the profound sense of helplessness and frustration that lead people to chose destructive paths instead of more productive activities.

[spartan]

Alot of crime is economic (e.g. you havent got enough money to survive so you steal) or personal related (e.g. your wife has an affair so you kill her and her lover i.e. crime of passion).

Having said that though there will always be the mentally unstable ones like Ted Bundy and the Yorkshire ripper who commit crimes, such as murder, for the sheer sense of power and joy that the crime brings to them.

[Dr Mindbender]

i'm surprised no-one has mentioned politically motivated 'crime', like terrorism and violent direct action.

Its worth noting that depending on the interests of the ruling establishment in a particular area, a seemingly trivial crime may invite a harsher penalty. Here in Northern Ireland, simply being a member of a paramilitary group like the IRA or INLA is a detainable offence.

[MarxSchmarx]

i'm surprised no-one has mentioned politically motivated 'crime', like terrorism and violent direct action.

Its worth noting that depending on the interests of the ruling establishment in a particular area, a seemingly trivial crime may invite a harsher penalty. Here in Northern Ireland, simply being a member of a paramilitary group like the IRA or INLA is a detainable offence.

Well, I'm not sure "terrorism" motivated by say religioius fundamentalist politics is any different than a systematic cold blooded, mass murderer acting "because god told him so".

If you commit premeditated murder or vandalism, whether your goal was financial gain (insurance money) or to change society strikes me as basically irrelevant. Although I realize the state tries to pretend it's different from time to time, usually both kinds of murder are ultimately tried in court as premeditated murder, and the sentences for both motives are comparable.

My understanding is that political crime sui generis is a rarity in the global north, with exceptions like the case you mentioned or the Nazi paraphanilia laws in Germany.

Usually if the state doesn't like your politics, they try to nail you for something else, like "disturbing the peace" or somesuch before they criminalize political activity as such.

[Led Zeppelin]

Economic inequality and crime are inversely proportional to each other.

[Palmares]

I think people are missing some important points here in understanding crime in relation to capitalism.

But I must say before I go further, it really is predicated on what specifically you mean by crime.

Contemporary ideas around crime, in my opinion, cannot be separated from the idea of law and order, and by extension, the state. So basically, the paradigm of crime exists in the framework of rules and hierarchy, and of course, coercion.

So to really answer your question more specifically, like you mentioned, types of crime need to be identified, and thus, understand which relate to what type of social system, such as a more capitalistic one, or even a post-capitalistic one.

I won't pretend I can comprehensively cover or even understand all types of crime (give or take the loaded meaning here), but I'll try to look at some.

Economic crimes (like mentioned already) - related to capitalism simply due to scarcity. Some do it to survive. However, what has been termed status anxiety, cannot be ignored here. Stealing, to "keep up with the jones", or even be ahead of them, is endemic of the society we live in.

Victimless crimes - these usually relate to morality. Being naked on the street. Smoking a joint. The list goes on. Well, what happens with this crime really depends on the morality of the given society. Currently, we live in fairly conservative societies overall, so these hold alot of weight, and even create more economic crimes, thus, less of this, could create less of that.

Power crimes - this one is interesting. What i elude to here are acts like, murder, rape, assault, et al. Essentially, i could interpret these actions as being related to some sort of mentality of coercive power-tripping. I see this strongly relating to the state, hierarchical societies that infact seem to encourage coercive power-tripping more than deem it a crime. I doubt I'll have to argue that point with most people from this board.

So basically, a radical social change bringing a much more different society, perhaps post-capitalist, could be beyond many of these pitfalls.

I think it may well be another discussion to talk about that type of society.

[Palmares]

After re-reading the thread, I just realised some of my points were at least semi-covered by Citizen Zero - credit given.