Marxism (Essay Sample)

444936
Маjоr Еssаy
Order Summary
 
Number of pages:
9
Type of assignment:
Essay
Academic level:
High-School Level
Referencing style:
Harvard
Number of sources:
15
Subject:
Sociology
Client country:
Australia (UK English)
Assignment extract:
Major essay Topic - Marxism.:
You need to be careful not to start with a presumption that is hard to defend - so rather than asking "Why do corporate people get away with white collar crime?" to something more analytical and objective. Your focus could be on the intersection between class and power that may reveal that some types of crime (white collar) are less policed and less severely punished than other types, but this needs solid research.
White collar crimes
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Date
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Introduction
The concepts of Marxism play an essential role in defining the societal problems that deals with material and class. Marxism also encompasses the worldwide views that are focused on class and materialism interpretation. According to the Marxism concepts, capitalism has contributed to the emergence of different classes of people (Smart, 2013). Social struggle takes place in the society due to the different classes that are in place. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the social struggle has led to various vices in the society. Crime is one of the results of social struggle as individuals try to make their lives better. The social classes in the society are also responsible for the development of the white collar crimes. The white collar jobs on the other hand have resulted to the white collar crimes which are committed by the people with the white collar jobs. However, the inequality within the society has led to the different treatment of the crimes vomited by the ordinary people and that committed by the white collar job holders. The white collar crimes in most cases are less policed and are not severely punished as compared to the other crimes. This raises the question of inequality with regards go how the members of the society are treated. The corporate people on the other hand seem to get away with the white collar crimes. The paper thus discusses the intersection between class and power in relation to the white collar crimes.
Discussion
White collar crimes
The intersection between class and power has resulted to a lot of inequality in the society. The people who are in power usually receive less punishment as compared to those who are not. In most cases, white collar crimes usually involve high profile corruption cases that results to massive losses of finances. The white collar crimes are usually financially motivated and they always involve persons of high social status and respectable members of the society. The white collar crimes are usually nonviolent and it also committed by the government and business. Huge sums of money may b involved during the process. Due to the nonviolent nature of the crimes, the may not be easily detected and it requires thorough investigations. The corporate crimes which are the white collar crimes usually benefit the organization and the individuals involved. The involvement of the company as a whole means that the highest members of the management are involved. The white collar crimes usually involves fraud, bribery embezzlement of funds, cybercrimes, copyright infringement, forgery, money laundering and identity theft (Levi, 2013). The chief executive officers of the companies may be involved in the embezzlement of funds of the company and this amount to white collar crimes. On the other hand, the chief executive officers may also be involved in bribery during the tendering process in order to ensure that the company is awarded the tender. Such crimes may involve a high amount of money which may either benefit the company or the individuals involved. The involvement of high amount of money makes the crime complicated and less policed. This is compared to the other crimes that take place in the society.
Sentencing disparities has thus raised the questions of why the white collar crimes are not severely punished in most of the countries and the investigations usually take a long period of time to be completed. Although the laws in most of the countries impose hefty fines and penalties for white collar crimes, the white collar crimes are rarely prosecuted. The people who are usually prosecuted are usually handed lighter sentences despite the provisions by the law. In china, some of the white collar crimes are punishable by death once proven guilty without reasonable doubts. However, most of the people are usually handed lighter sentencing and in most case they are fined. In the United States of America, the white collar is punishable by fines and imprisonment. The penalties were stiffened after a number of multi billion dollar white collar crimes were on the increase in the country. Despite the strict laws and regulation, the courts rarely impose the strict sentences on the white collar crimes as compared to the other crimes (Schell, 2010). This is an indication that the intersection of class and power influences the outcome of the white collar cases. The white collar crimes are usually less policed in most of the countries as compared to the other crimes. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the nature of the white collar crimes may complicate the policing process. This is because most of the people involved in the crimes always ensure that little or no evidence of crime is usually left.
The white collar crimes are usually less severely punished since those involved usually hire high class lawyers to defend them against the charges being imposed on them. This makes it difficult for the prosecution to take place and ensure that a severe punishment is imposed on those involved. Those committing the white collar crimes usually have adequate finances as they always benefit from the fraudulent deals. This therefore puts the people in power in a position to defend themselves incase they are brought to court. On the other hand, those committing the white collar crimes usually ensure that they have covered their tracks and hence making it difficult for the courts to prove that they are guilty of the crimes. Those who have committed the white collar crimes are therefore charged with lesser charges as it is difficult to prove that they were actually involved in the white collar crimes. On the other hand, most of the executives do not commit the white collar crimes a lone. In most cases they use their accomplices to commit the actual crimes and hence making it difficult to prosecute them for the white collar crimes. On the other hand, it usually takes a lot of time for the investigations to be completed unlike the other crimes (Strader, 2011). This may affect the process as some of the crucial evidence may be lost and hence affecting the prosecution process. Proving the case of white collar crimes is usually a difficult and complicated process and hence the less severe punishments that in awarded in the case of white collar crimes.
The trends and societal believes in the society impacts negatively in the fight against prosecution and policing of the white collar crimes. The justice system does not perceive fraud and other white collar crimes as serious crimes. This is despite the serious economic losses that it may cause. These impacts negatively on the sentencing and policing process. The justice system usually places a lot of focus on the violent crimes that are usually committed in the society. The perception of the justice system therefore impacts negatively on the sentencing and hence leading to lighter sentencing of the white collar criminals. On the other hand, the police are also focused on fighting the violent crimes in the society and hence putting little emphasis in policing the white collar crimes (Berger, 2011). The police do not perceive white collar crimes as serious crimes and hence affecting the policing process. The human and financial resources of the police are also not adequate to deal with the white collar crimes. This is due to the high number of white collar crimes and the limited resources that the police have for the purposes of policing the white collar crimes. Most of the resources are usually devoted to the fight against violent crimes in the society as opposed to the white collar crimes. This therefore allows the white crimes to go on in the society without much policing. This is despite the tough laws and punishments that have been put in place to ensure that the white collar criminals are prosecuted.
The justice system is already overloaded with cases of violent crimes as compared to the white collar crimes. Most of the judges also feel that the criminals who have committed violent crimes are the ones who deserve to be jailed. Since white collar crimes do not involve any violence, most of the judges and magistrates are usually lenient when it comes to the white collar crimes. This leads to the lighter sentencing of the people who have committed white collar crimes. Alternative sentencing like probation, community service or suspended sentences are thus handed over to the white collar criminals instead of the jail terms. This is also considering that most of the people who are involved in the white collar crimes are usually the powerful people in the society. In 1999, a Toronto based telemarketing firm World Media brokers was convicted of fraud which involved selling Canadian lottery tickets to Americans. The company was fined only $ 80,000 which is an amount that the company makes in less than a day (Piquero, 2012). This is an indication of leniency when it comes to the powerful organizations or individuals. The jurisdictional limitations also impacts negatively on the sentencing of the white collar crimes. In the glob...