Durkheim and Marx Theories Applied to Drug Laws free essay sample

All societies have rules and regulations as well as penalties for those who violate them. There are numerous theories about the philosophy behind these laws and punishments, and the reasons we implement them. A short analysis of two of these perspectives can shed light on the differences between the various ideas while illustrating that, in reality, each theory carries some validity. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx’s perspectives on the law are significantly different. Durkheim’s view is based upon the belief that a society’s legal system reflects the values of society as a whole, while Marx’s view is based upon the belief that laws reflect a continuing conflict between the classes. An examanation of how these two perspectives perceive the basis and purpose of laws against the possession of illegal drugs reveals how entirely different they are. According to the philosophies of Emile Durkheim, punishment and lawmaking are based on morality and justice. We will write a custom essay sample on Durkheim and Marx Theories Applied to Drug Laws or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His theories focus on punishment as a reaction to society’s collective beliefs about what is appropriate behavior. Durkheim developed the concept of â€Å"collective conscience†, or the idea of the shared beliefs and attitudes of a society. He theorized that the public provides legitimacy to the criminal justice system because the system reflects society’s collective agreement of the concept of morality. Thus, the collective conscious acts as the vehicle for justice. In Durkheim’s philosophy, punishment is directed more at the public, whose values have been violated, rather than at the individual offender. While Durkheim’s perspective on law centers on public consensus, Karl Marx’s conflict theory argues that law and punishment are products of the conflict between competing groups with different interests. In this theory, the elite class is in conflict with lower class populations. Punishment is used as a strategy for controlling the lower class. Lawmakers create and implement laws that are designed to maintain the power and authority of the elite class. These laws maintain the repression of the lower class, a group that is perceived as a hindrance to society as a whole. David Garland agrees with this and writes, â€Å"penal measures are shaped not just by patterns of criminality themselves linked to the conditions of life of marginal groups and their relation to other classes but primarily by governmental perceptions of the poor as a social problem and the preferred strategies for their treatment (page 134). In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, drug use became a major concern for most Americans. As the War on Drugs and â€Å"Just Say No† campaign were being thrust into the spotlight by the government and media, the public became more aware of the scope of drug use and abuse in this country. The federal and states’ governments quickly responded by creating and implementing more harsh and punitive punishments for drug offenses. Most of these laws have either remained unchanged or become stricter in the years since then. According to the Durkheimian perspective, the public sees drug use as an unacceptable behavior and recognizes it as a threat to morality and values. As such, drug users must be punished in order to restore societal harmony and deter future offenses. The increasingly punitive reaction to drug use in the 1980’s can be seen as a reaction to the public’s increasing perception that drugs are a threat to the moral fabric of society. By inflicting severe punishment on drug offenders, the community is satisfied with the knowledge that drug addicts are paying for their effect on society’s morals. They are content knowing drug abusers will be removed from their neighborhoods, where they could influence people they know. The Marxist perspective would indicate that although there are people of every social and economic class who use drugs, in the 1980s the government began to recognize drug use and the associated street crime as a major problem among the poor. The problem was framed as a crime problem rather that a social or public health issue. Drugs, especially crack cocaine, became associated with street crime and the poor. Crack cocaine’s poor users elicited more severe punishment than their white- collar, powder cocaine-using counterparts. By putting drug users into the criminal justice system, the elite class is able to maintain their power by ensuring that lower class drug offenders continue to be repressed. As can be seen from the discussion above, Durkheim and Marx’s have differing philosophies regarding the law. They have opposing views of the basis and purpose of the law, as well as opposing conclusions about whether or not the law should be respected and obeyed. Those who view the law from Durkheim’s perspective will essentially respect and generally obey it. On the other hand, those who view it from Marx’s perspective will generally resent it and obey it only when it suits their needs, wishes or goals. In reality, however, both theories are relavent to the public’s obedience, or lack thereof, to modern drug laws. By exploring the various sociological explanations behind the institutions of law and punishment, we are able to understand society’s reaction to them.