Final Essay

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels on Criminology and Social Deviance

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels were friends who had the same ideology, which was even

published in writing, one of which was entitled The Communist Manifesto in 1848.

(History.com, 2009) Marx and Engels promoted the idea focusing on the welfare of the

proletariats, more commonly known as the working class. Their ideas gave birth to an

ideology called Marxism which discredits the idea of capitalism which for them, does not promote

equal opportunities for all citizens. Marxism focuses on the economy and the capitalist structure

of society. (Emergence and Influence of Critical Criminology, n.d)This ideology can be related

to Criminology which is the study of criminal behavior and social deviance, or the violation of

social norms.

In a usual economic setting, there are entrepreneurs or the owners who needed people for

their business to operate. For every person working, comes a compensation that shall be

commensurate to the nature of the work, the quality and the risks involved. Marx and Engels call

these entrepreneurs as the bourgeoisie who are usually perceived in the Marxist ideology as

people who prioritize their self-interests and frequently give less consideration to the welfare of

their workers. Proletariats merely sell their labor power", or ability to do work, in return for a

wage, which is otherwise known as the theory of alienation. (Ollman, n.d) Those who work harder

do not even own the raw materials or machines they use for work. The owners or the bourgeoisie

get much of the earnings, and divide the rest to the proletariats.

For Marx and Engels, the unequal opportunities given to society is the source of all crimes.

Because of the unfair practices of entrepreneurs, workers are motivated to get more than what they

receive through means that are contrary to public morals, which is also the reason for the existence

of social deviation. According to Marx, the source of Crime is capitalism where the proletariat
sell their labor to the bourgeoisie, without fair compensation. (Emergence and Influence of

Critical Criminology, n.d)

In their writing entitled The Communist Manifesto (1848) Marx and Engels also

emphasized the industrial period as the time where manual labor was often disregarded because of

the emergence of machines doing the rest of the production of goods. (Marx & Engels, 1848) With

this comes the loss of jobs for majority of the Proletariats whose work were replaced by

machineries. This may have given rise to the rise of Marxism which sees industrialization as

something that is not in favor of the working class. The unfair compensation together with the loss

of opportunities for the proletariats due to excessive capitalism may have been the motivation of

the perpetration criminal acts. Social conditions have also been an inevitable reality for all

workers. The Marxism ideology contemplates with these social conditions as the source of crimes.

These crimes do not stem from pure arbitrariness but from the struggle of the isolated individual

against the prevailing social conditions. (Emergence and Influence of Critical Criminology,

n.d) Man naturally finds the urgency to provide for his family and himself, but the prevalence of

these social conditions, man oftentimes is deprived of the opportunity to work and receive

compensation which can give him and the rest of family a prosperous life.

Views on the Marxist Idea on Criminology and Social Deviance

Based on the stated ideas on Marxism by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels from different

sources, I personally believe that it could be detrimental for the society to be given completely

equal opportunities. There is no certainty that total labor equality would benefit everyone because

people might have the notion that everything would be served to them on a silver platter by the

government, who will then regulate all commercial activities so that no one is below or above
another person. The danger of depicting the human way of thinking and acting as determined by

the material productive forces tools and machines could drastically lessen the productivity of

all people. (Mises.org, 2010) People might have the tendency to have the mentality of not doing

any work because the government will not allow for them to be prejudiced. There could be a certain

laxity involved if capitalism shall be completely abolished. As for the bourgeoisie, Marx and

Engels may have exaggeratedly depicted them as evils when in fact majority of them actually give

opportunities for so many workers. What the society needs is not government intervention for

equality, but only laws that shall regulate all commercial activities and acknowledge the rights of

the proletariats.

Also, too much emphasis on inequality brought by capitalists could also endanger the mind

of men. According to Social Justice by Mooney and Young, many Japanese soldiers who are

also suicide bombers during the Second World War were in fact University Students under the

Humanities who were heavily influenced by the ideas of Marx. (Mooney & Young, 2005) They

were said to have been heavily influenced by the ideas of Marx, thinking that capitalism is purely

evil. Thinking that maybe the Americans were the source of inequality because of rampant

capitalism, the Japanese might have been convinced that the only way to savor their honor is to

die fighting these evil capitalists who make the most of what the labor class work for.

According to Marx, To effect social changes, the workers must, according to Marx, adapt

themselves to the slow, progressive evolution of economic structures because no social formation

ever disappears before all the productive forces are developed for which it has room, and new

higher relations of production never appear before the necessary material conditions are matured

in the womb of the old society. (Critique of Marxism, 1983) This could actually lead to slower

progress, which may prevent the society from moving forward towards innovation through a
healthy competition. If the workers could be competitive enough to match up with the other key

industry players, even if it is slow or at their own pacing, they can learn to be innovative, to explore

options and manage ideas on how they can improve given the competition that they have.

This is where the importance of a market economy shall be emphasized. According to

Bertell Ollman in his talk in China entitled Market Economy: Advantages and Disadvantages

(1999), most people work harder and firms have the strong tendency to innovate which causes the

advancement of society in general. (Ollman, 1999) This is true especially in a world where the

only constant thing is change. Society is constantly advancing and although some may not be able

to keep, the benefits that these advancements have for the betterment and improvement of

technology, particularly the lives of people shall never be overlooked.

As a conclusion, the Marxist idea of the abolishment of Capitalism in order to prevent the

existence of crimes and social deviation does not allow the society to prosper. The world that we

have is not perfect, because there will always be changes and as human beings, we should always

learn how to adapt. Inequality is not synonymous to crime. Thus, what the society needs is not to

be given equal opportunities, but merely, the opportunity to work, compete and constantly value

the public policies laid down by the government. As for the inevitable unequal opportunities, the

promulgation of laws are important in order to honor the equal rights for prosperity that all men

have.
 List of References
Confronting the Establishment: The Emergence and Influence of Critical Criminology. (n.d.).

Retrieved June 13, 2017.

Dolgoff, S. (1983( Critique of Marxism, published by Soil of Liberty, Minneapolis, 1983

History.com Staff. (2009). Karl Marx. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

http://www.history.com/topics/karl-marx

K. (2010, June 29). The Critics of Marxism. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

https://mises.org/library/critics-marxism

Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm

Mooney, J. & Young, J. (2005) Social Justice, Vol. 32, No. 1

N.A (n.d) Imagining Terrorism: Terrorism and Anti-Terrorism Terrorism, Two ways of doing evil

Ollman, B. (1999). Markey Economy: Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved June 13, 2017,

from https://www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/china_speech2.phpWhat is Marxism. (n.d.).

Retrieved June 13, 2017, from https://www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/what_is_marxism.php