Criminology concepts and research

Criminology

Choice Theory and the Marxist Perspective

When looking at choice theory from the Marxist perspective, it is necessary to first understand the main concepts. One has to be aware of what choice theory actually is, and what the Marxist perspective is. Without having knowledge of both of these issues, confusion can arise. For that reason, choice theory will be first addressed, and then the Marxist perspective will be addressed, before they are tied together. There are actually two different types of choice theory - rational choice theory and social choice theory, both of which will be discussed here. They are distinctly different, and only one of them is closely related to the Marxist way of looking at issues, but both of them most be understood. This will help to showcase the differences and increase the impact of what is being seen where the Marxist viewpoint is concerned.

The rational choice theory has to do with the belief that individuals have a great deal of self-interest and unless legislation is enacted that will actually help their personal interests they will not be inclined to support it. They do not want to do anything that involves anyone else, and they are only interested in programs and activities that will bring them benefit. This shows that programs that do not affect individuals in a personal way are not important to these people and there is very little interest for these individuals in helping others in any way (McIntosh, 2003). Basically, it indicates that people who follow this value system are generally selfish and will work to protect their own interests. In other words, the choice that they make will be for them, regardless of who else it is against. Of course, not all people are this way, and some issues are much more significant than others, but it is important to understand how many people look at these concerns.

The social choice theory is much different from the rational choice theory, however. Instead of implying that individuals only care about themselves and will do nothing to help other individuals, it instead argues that individuals will most likely make choices that they feel will result in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people (McIntosh, 2003). These types of individuals look for choices that they can make that will be fair and balanced to everyone and will not cause undue gain or undue harm for any individuals in the community in any way (McIntosh, 2003). This theory would indicate that individuals would want to see the greatest benefit for society and would therefore wish that the government or others would do whatever is necessary to create this (McIntosh, 2003). This greater good idea is important to many people around the world that are working for the good of others, and lends some credibility to the argument that the rational choice theory is not actually realistic in today's society when the big picture is examined. However, it will be seen that the rational choice theory so often takes precedence in many areas of life today for many people.

Now that choice theory is better understood, it is important to examine Marxism. The Marxist ideal generally addresses the class system (McClelland, 2000). For example, Marxism would argue that the social standards that have been set in the past by the upper class were the reason behind the felt need to dominate in order to boost status and self-esteem, especially where men were concerned. To the upper class, ownership of property was evidence of an elevated social status; therefore, black men, who were traditionally relegated to the lower class, were extremely desirous to achieve that status, even if it meant exploiting their wives' labor the way slave masters did with their slaves (McClelland, 2000). The patriarchal order of the upper class - according to the Marxist - dictated that the man was to be supreme in his relationship with his wife; therefore, men became willing to abuse uncooperative wives if necessary in order to live up to the standard set by the upper class (McClelland, 2000). Put more simply, most - if not all - societal problems can be traced to disparities and conflicts between the 'haves' and 'have-nots.'

The Marxist, in other words, believes that people work to make themselves 'better' in the sense that they have more power, status, and prestige, as opposed to working for the good of other individuals. Marxism is very totalitarian and stilted, as opposed to the more relaxed attitude that was taken by some other philosophers in more recent times. An example of the Marxist ideals can be seen in the war that is still ongoing with Iraq. Many of the people there are now more unhappy than they were when Saddam Hussein was in power, and this comes as a surprise to those that are over in that country, trying to save it from itself. The Iraqi people, however, do not want the kind of 'saving' that the U.S. And others have offered to them. Many of them did want to be free of Hussein, but not at the cost of being bound to the American people or the other countries that sent troops over there. In other words, they were seeing first-hand the Marxist ideal that those that change the society change it for their good and desires, not for the desires of others.

This is generally where the idea of choice theory comes in, because it is important to show whether the choices that are made are involved with what is good for the person making the choice, or what is good for those that the choice is being made for. It these are the same person, then this is obviously not a problem, but when the choice is being made by one person for another person or group of people, the Marxist perspective would state that the choice will be made based on what benefits the person making that choice, not on what would benefit those that would then have to live with that choice. The Iraq war is just one small example of this issue, as there are many other areas of life in which this can be observed, and there are many people that are suffering because of the choices that have been made by others. There are, understandably, times that difficult choices have to be made that may not be the easiest or the best for everyone involved, but these are not that common. Instead, many of the difficult choices that are seen are the result of individuals that are involved with rational choice theory and are not interested as strongly as they should be in the welfare of others.