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'''Crime''' is any action that a society's [[ruling class]] considers unacceptable.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Mary Stevenson Callcott|year=1935|title=Russian Justice|chapter=The Soviet Theory of Crime|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Russian_Justice#CHAPTER_II:_THE_SOVIET_THEORY_OF_CRIME|quote=Or again, speaking more plainly, the [[Marxian]] formula states "that the [[state]] is an organ of oppression of one [[class]] by another; that it sets up an order which legalizes and consolidates this oppression modifying the [[class struggle|conflict of classes]]." Thus since the state is an organ of class domination, and crime necessarily, by the same definition, is the commission of an act against the interests of the ruling class, a criminal code would be a formulation of penalties imposed for such acts.}}</ref> An act is a crime if it breaks the [[law]]. The study of crime is called criminology. | '''Crime''' is any action that a society's [[ruling class]] considers unacceptable.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Mary Stevenson Callcott|year=1935|title=Russian Justice|chapter=The Soviet Theory of Crime|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Russian_Justice#CHAPTER_II:_THE_SOVIET_THEORY_OF_CRIME|quote=Or again, speaking more plainly, the [[Marxian]] formula states "that the [[state]] is an organ of oppression of one [[class]] by another; that it sets up an order which legalizes and consolidates this oppression modifying the [[class struggle|conflict of classes]]." Thus since the state is an organ of class domination, and crime necessarily, by the same definition, is the commission of an act against the interests of the ruling class, a criminal code would be a formulation of penalties imposed for such acts.}}</ref> An act is a crime if it breaks the [[law]]. The study of crime is called criminology. | ||
Several etiologies of crime have been proposed by criminologists. In the ''classical school'' of criminology, crime was always an exercise of the [[Freedom|free will]] of the criminal. Since crime was considered a choice, two people who committed the same crime were to be given the same sentence. This theory was adopted during the 18th century and was exemplified in the French Penal Code of 1791 | Several etiologies of crime have been proposed by [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] criminologists. In the ''classical school'' of criminology, crime was always an exercise of the [[Freedom|free will]] of the criminal, regardless of circumstances. Since crime was considered a choice, two people who committed the same crime were to be given the same sentence. This theory was adopted during the 18th century and was exemplified in the French Penal Code of 1791. The ''neo-classical school'' left the classical school's theory of complete free will mostly intact but carved out exceptions by defining some criminals as ontologically non-rational. Courts, with the help of scientists, could now decide that a crime was due to "insanity" or "imbecility." The [[Eugenics|eugenicist]] ''anthropological'' or ''Italian school'' of criminology mostly disregarded crime as the choice of the criminal and instead saw it as the result of either insanity or behavioral regression to earlier stages in human evolution, which supposedly occurred side-by-side with primitive physical features and meant criminals could be identified by those features.<ref>{{Citation|author=Stephen Jay Gould|year=1981|title=The Mismeasure of Man|chapter=Measuring Bodies: Two Case Studies on the Apishness of Undesirables|section=The ape in some of us: criminal anthropology|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=0-393-01489-4}}</ref> The original form of this theory, from Cesare Lombroso, was modified by his successors to allow room for criminals who did not fit either category.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
Bourgeois criminology was historically [[progressive]] compared to earlier times, where judges dealt punishments that were disproportionate to the crime and were allowed personal discretion over a crime's sentence. However, neither [[Idealism|idealistic]] pure free will nor its opposite, biological [[determinism]], can truly account for and end crime because neither recognizes the class content of crime. The [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] regarded crime as the product of economic circumstances. The solution to crime implied in their theory was to remove the conditions that create crime.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
Discussing prisoners in [[Capitalism|capitalist]] societies, [[Huey P. Newton]] divides them into "illegitimate capitalists," who accept capitalism but attempt to achieve capitalist ends through illegitimate means and are criminalized, and "political prisoners," who are criminalized for "reject[ing] the legitimacy of the assumptions upon which the society is based."<ref>{{Citation|author=Huey P. Newton|year=1970|title=Prison, Where is Thy Victory?|title-url=https://abolitionnotes.org/huey-p-newton/prison-where-is-thy-victory-1970}}</ref> | Discussing prisoners in [[Capitalism|capitalist]] societies, [[Huey P. Newton]] divides them into "illegitimate capitalists," who accept capitalism but attempt to achieve capitalist ends through illegitimate means and are criminalized, and "political prisoners," who are criminalized for "reject[ing] the legitimacy of the assumptions upon which the society is based."<ref>{{Citation|author=Huey P. Newton|year=1970|title=Prison, Where is Thy Victory?|title-url=https://abolitionnotes.org/huey-p-newton/prison-where-is-thy-victory-1970}}</ref> | ||
Latest revision as of 19:47, 25 October 2025
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Crime is any action that a society's ruling class considers unacceptable.[1] An act is a crime if it breaks the law. The study of crime is called criminology.
Several etiologies of crime have been proposed by bourgeois criminologists. In the classical school of criminology, crime was always an exercise of the free will of the criminal, regardless of circumstances. Since crime was considered a choice, two people who committed the same crime were to be given the same sentence. This theory was adopted during the 18th century and was exemplified in the French Penal Code of 1791. The neo-classical school left the classical school's theory of complete free will mostly intact but carved out exceptions by defining some criminals as ontologically non-rational. Courts, with the help of scientists, could now decide that a crime was due to "insanity" or "imbecility." The eugenicist anthropological or Italian school of criminology mostly disregarded crime as the choice of the criminal and instead saw it as the result of either insanity or behavioral regression to earlier stages in human evolution, which supposedly occurred side-by-side with primitive physical features and meant criminals could be identified by those features.[2] The original form of this theory, from Cesare Lombroso, was modified by his successors to allow room for criminals who did not fit either category.[1]
Bourgeois criminology was historically progressive compared to earlier times, where judges dealt punishments that were disproportionate to the crime and were allowed personal discretion over a crime's sentence. However, neither idealistic pure free will nor its opposite, biological determinism, can truly account for and end crime because neither recognizes the class content of crime. The Soviet Union regarded crime as the product of economic circumstances. The solution to crime implied in their theory was to remove the conditions that create crime.[1]
Discussing prisoners in capitalist societies, Huey P. Newton divides them into "illegitimate capitalists," who accept capitalism but attempt to achieve capitalist ends through illegitimate means and are criminalized, and "political prisoners," who are criminalized for "reject[ing] the legitimacy of the assumptions upon which the society is based."[3]
Al Capone's sincere anti-communism provides an example of an "illegitimate capitalist" upholding capitalism:
Bolshevism is knocking at our gates. We can’t afford to let it in. We have got to organize ourselves against it, and put our shoulders together and hold fast. We must keep America whole and safe and unspoiled. We must keep the worker away from red literature and red ruses; we must see that his mind remains healthy.[4]
Explaining why a criminal like Capone would feel this way, R. Palme Dutt writes:
The earnestness of this appeal of a thief and gangster to maintain existing society "unspoiled" in face of the Communist menace might appear at first blush comic; but in fact it is purely reasonable. None have more sincere concern and zeal than thieves to maintain the institution of private property, without which their profession would come to an end, and they would find themselves faced with the unpleasant alternative of having to work for their living.[5]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “Or again, speaking more plainly, the Marxian formula states "that the state is an organ of oppression of one class by another; that it sets up an order which legalizes and consolidates this oppression modifying the conflict of classes." Thus since the state is an organ of class domination, and crime necessarily, by the same definition, is the commission of an act against the interests of the ruling class, a criminal code would be a formulation of penalties imposed for such acts.”
Mary Stevenson Callcott (1935). Russian Justice: 'The Soviet Theory of Crime'. - ↑ Stephen Jay Gould (1981). The Mismeasure of Man: 'Measuring Bodies: Two Case Studies on the Apishness of Undesirables; The ape in some of us: criminal anthropology'. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-01489-4
- ↑ Huey P. Newton (1970). Prison, Where is Thy Victory?.
- ↑ “Bolshevism is knocking at our gates. We can't afford to let it in. We've got to organize ourselves against it, and put our shoulders together and hold fast. We need funds to fight famine. [...] We must keep America whole, and safe, and unspoiled. If machines are going to take jobs away from the worker, then he will need to find something else to do. Perhaps he'll get back to the soil. But we must care for him during the period of change. We must keep him away from red literature, red ruses; we must see that his mind remains healthy.”
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. (1931-08-27). "How Al Capone Would Run This Country" Liberty Magazine. - ↑ R. Palme Dutt (1935). Fascism and Social Revolution: 'Chapter IX: The Theory and Practice of Fascism; 2. Demagogy as a Science' (pp. 120-121). [PDF]