How Politics And Economics Can Caused Deviance

How Politics and Economics Can Cause Deviance

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Author Note

How Politics and Economics Can Cause Deviance

Karl Marx, in his revolutionary manifesto “Das Kapital” challenged the social fabric of society ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ZFw0rMX2","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Marx & Levitzky, 1965)","plainCitation":"(Marx & Levitzky, 1965)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":227,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/HNH4U2HJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/HNH4U2HJ"],"itemData":{"id":227,"type":"book","title":"Das Kapital: A critique of political economy","publisher":"H. Regnery","author":[{"family":"Marx","given":"Karl"},{"family":"Levitzky","given":"Serge L."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1965"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Marx & Levitzky, 1965). He opposed the haves and have-nots class divide and saw it as the reason for the spread of crime and deviance in society. Thus, the very basis of the conflict theory is rooted in the economic disparity within society. With the frequency of criminal and deviance behavior being directly proportional to the existence of economic inequality within society, most political economists view deviance through the lens of socioeconomic status of an individual ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ntdFCYfb","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Turk, 1977)","plainCitation":"(Turk, 1977)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":229,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/R3IYIBY3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/R3IYIBY3"],"itemData":{"id":229,"type":"article-journal","title":"Class, conflict, and criminalization","container-title":"Sociological Focus","page":"209-220","volume":"10","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Turk","given":"Austin T."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1977"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Turk, 1977). In A Crime by Any Other Name, writer ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"xc4I7zAu","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Reiman, 1999)","plainCitation":"(Reiman, 1999)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":228,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/W98EW6EW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/W98EW6EW"],"itemData":{"id":228,"type":"article-journal","title":"A crime by any other name","container-title":"Crime and Criminals: Contemporary and Classic Readings in Criminology. Ed. by Frank R. Scarpitti and Amie L. Nielsen. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury","page":"25-33","author":[{"family":"Reiman","given":"Jeffrey"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1999"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} Reiman (1999) explains how people will see an individual with low socioeconomic status as someone who is more likely to dabble in criminal behavior, as opposed to someone with a better socioeconomic position.

The idea that economic status correlates with deviant behavior is not limited to economics alone, but it also permeates the core politics of the country. The idea that money makes the mere go still reigns true, given how the people influencing political decisions in a country often bear high socioeconomic status in society. Dubbed as the power elite, the ones with the power and resources in The Power Elite by sociologist C. Wright ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Z80ZzbBm","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Mills, 1981)","plainCitation":"(Mills, 1981)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":230,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/YPRD9AQ4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/YPRD9AQ4"],"itemData":{"id":230,"type":"article-journal","title":"The power elite [1956]","container-title":"New York","author":[{"family":"Mills","given":"C. Wright"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1981"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} Mills (1981), these individuals have the means and the resources, along with the power needed to manipulate the things around them, all the while staying on the top. This power they hold does not stay constrained to them influencing political infrastructure, but it also allows them to personally get away with criminal behavior, with little to no legal retribution.

In conclusion, this imbalance within the criminal law is the basis of political and economic deviance in society, with the laws being made to make rich, richer and the poor, poorer. Thus, who is to blame an underprivileged individual from resorting to nefarious designs in order to survive. It is only the natural order of things running their course, as unintentionally intended society.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Marx, K., & Levitzky, S. L. (1965). Das Kapital: A critique of political economy. H. Regnery.

Mills, C. W. (1981). The power elite [1956]. New York.

Reiman, J. (1999). A crime by any other name. Crime and Criminals: Contemporary and Classic Readings in Criminology. Ed. by Frank R. Scarpitti and Amie L. Nielsen. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury, 25–33.

Turk, A. T. (1977). Class, conflict, and criminalization. Sociological Focus, 10(3), 209–220.