Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Sage Publications, Inc. are collaborating
with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
ANNALS, AAPSS, 423, Jan. 1976
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
134 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
No EXCUSE FOR CRIME 135
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
136 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
him that the legal threat is ad- powerful, not because, as he sug-
dressed. He is able to respond to itgests, poverty is causally more re-
unless he suffers from a specific lated to crime than wealth; rather,
individual defect or disease which he sees deprivation as morally un-
makes him incompetent. just and painful, and power and
There is a generous and strong wealth as morally undeserved and
moral bias in Shuman's arguments, pleasant, wherefore he wants to
although he does not seem fully excuse the poor and punish the
aware of it. The bias was already wealthy.6 He is morally prejudiced
noted by Friedrich Nietzche when against those corrupted by unde-
he wrote in Beyond Good and Evil: served wealth-whom he gives no
"[writers] are in the habit of taking sign of excusing-and in favor of
the side of criminals." Stated in those corrupted by unjust depriva-
undisguised moral terms, thetion. argu-
ment goes: the poor are entitled The
to generosity of his prejudice
rob or rape because of the injustice leads Shuman to overlook a logical
they suffer-poverty. The moral error in his argument. In some sense,
nature of the argument is concealed everybody is what he is, and does
by an erroneous factual claim:what poor he does, as a result of his
offenders can't help committing genetic inheritance and the influ-
crimes and, therefore, should not encebeof his environment-poverty
held responsible. or wealth or power-that interacted
The nonfactual, moral nature withorhis genetic inheritance and pro-
bias of the argument is easilyduced re- him and his conduct. This is
vealed if "power" is substituted no for
more the case for the poor than
"poverty." Suppose one were to for the rich, for criminals than for
credit fully Lord Acton's famous say-noncriminals. However, there is no
ing: "Power tends to corrupt and ab-reason to believe that, except in
solute power corrupts absolutely."individual cases (which require
Those who hold power, then, couldspecific demonstration), genetics, or
be held responsible for criminal acts the environment, so compel actions
only to some degree, since they live that the actor must be excused be-
in conditions which tend to corruptcause he could not be expected to
them. Those who hold "absolute control them.
power" can not be held responsible Unless none of us is responsible
for criminal acts at all. They for wouldwhat he does, it would have to
be
be "power victims," as ghetto dwell- shown why criminals, or why
ers are "ghetto victims." Their poor criminals, are less able to con-
rapes would be political acts, andtrol their conduct and therefore
they would be political prisoners
when punished for them. Power 6. What are the psychological reasons
would become a legal excuse. "Ab- (the scientific or causal as distinguished
solute power" would be an absolutefrom the moral ones they rationalize) for
excusing the slum-dwelling robber (who
excuse.
wishes to support his habit, or girl friend)
This does not appearand to not be what (who wishes to take
the embezzler
Shuman advocates. Yet he urges his girl friend to Acapulco)? Wherein is the
that poverty (or slums) should be an embezzler's ambition, greed, wish for
prestige, sexual desire less strong, less
excuse since-like power-it leads excusable, or less predetermined by his
to crime. Shuman wants to excuse character and experience than the slum
the poor and not the wealthy and
dweller's?
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
No EXCUSE FOR CRIME 137
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
138 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
Bebel and Trotsky had no experi- tion.) The difference between blac
ence of socialism when they.wrote. and white crime rates may well b
Richard Quinney must be congratu- explained by different environ
lated for managing to preserve or ments. What has been said in the
regain his innocence, untainted by preceeding section should prevent
the available theoretical and prac- confusion of such an explanation
tical experience. Bereft ofQuinney's with a justification for individual
innocence, I do not foresee a society offenders.
-socialist or otherwise-in which However, simple comparisons of
black and white crime rates are
men will not quarrel and envy each
other, wherefore the criminal misleading.
law They ignore the fact
that a greater proportion of black
will have to restrain them and protect
the social order against thoseare whoyoung and poor, and the young
are, or feel, disadvantaged by and poor of any race display the
it. At
present the societies which claim to crime rates. In other words,
highest
be socialist seem to use legal the
pun-age- and income-related vari
ishments more than others.9 I see no ances must not be attributed to
reason for maintaining that futurerace. The age-specific crime rates of
socialist societies-whatever form blacks are only slightly higher than
those of whites on the same socio-
of socialism they adopt-will need
criminal law any less. economic level."1 The remaining
difference cannot be attributed to
racially discriminating law enforce-
BLACK CRIME RATES
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
No EXCUSE FOR CRIME 139
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
140 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
the life styles generated by the sub- the combination that produces h
cultures characteristic of those who crime rates and explains the varian
commit it. But does this tell us more among groups. But recognition of t
than that crime is produced by a importance of poverty as a crimin
crime-producing subculture? genic condition should not lead
to neglect individual differenc
ENVIRONMENT AND PERSONALITY Enrico Ferri, unlike some of his
latter-day followers, did not neglect
What are we to conclude? Many
them. He wrote:
people, black and white, living
under the conditions ordinarily If you regard the general condition of
associated with high crime rates-misery as the sole source of criminality,
then you cannot get around the difficulty
such as poverty or inequality-dothat out of the one thousand individuals
not commit crimes, while many
living in misery from the day of their
people not living under these condi-birth to that of their death, only one
tions do. It follows that these condi- hundred or two hundred become crimi-
tions are neither necessary nor nals. ... If poverty were the sole
sufficient to cause crime. Crime rates
determining cause, one thousand out of
have risen as poverty and inequalityone thousand poor ought to become
have declined. It follows that high criminals. If only two hundred become
crime rates need not depend on criminals, while one hundred commit
more poverty or inequality and are suicide, one hundred end as maniacs,
the other six hundred remain honest in
not remedied by less. More resent-
their social condition, then poverty
ment may increase crime rates even
alone is not sufficient to explain crim-
when there is less poverty-but inality.17
resentment is hard to measure and
may increase with improving condi-
tions, as was pointed out by Alexis de THE LEGAL AND THE
Tocqueville.16 SOCIAL APPROACH
Since the incidence of crime
Surely it is futile to contrast en-
among the poor is higher than vironmental
among (social) with individual
the nonpoor, it is quite likely that
(psychological) causation, as though
when combined with other ingredi-
they were mutually exclusive alter-
ents-not always easily discerned-
natives. Instead, we might ask in
poverty and inequality do produce
quantitative terms:
high crime rates, probably by affec-
ting motivations and temptations. 1. How much of the variance in
Thus, poverty may be an important crime rates-among social groups,
element-though neither indispen- or between two time periods-is
sable nor sufficient by itself-in controlled by specific differences in
social conditions?
16. Democracy in America. For example: 2. Which of these (a) can be
changed; (b) at what cost, monetary
"It is natural that the love of equality should or otherwise?
constantly increase together with equality 3. At what cost can we then re-
itself, and that it should grow by what it
feeds on .. ." duce the crime rate in general, or
". .. The mere fact that certain abuses have
been remedied draws attention to the others 17. Enrico Ferri, The Positive School of
and they now appear more galling; peopleCriminology, ed. Stanley E. Grupp (Pitts-
may suffer less, but their sensibility is burgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1968),
exacerbated . . " p. 60.
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
No EXCUSE FOR CRIME 141
This content downloaded from 128.255.6.125 on Sat, 10 Sep 2016 04:37:19 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms