Richard Quinney – Class, State, and Crime (1977)

Class, State, and Crime: On the Theory and Practice of Criminal JusticeThe system of institutions and practices for enforcing laws, adjudicating crimes, and managing punishment. (1977) by Richard Quinney is one of the most influential Marxist analyses of crime and social control in the United States. The book combines a materialist analysis of society with a radical critique of the state’s penal system and is a key text of radical and critical criminology.

Social Context and Theoretical Foundation

Quinney wrote his work in the context of growing social inequality, state repression (especially against the Black PowerThe capacity to influence others and shape outcomes, even against resistance. and anti-war movements), and a general loss of trust in the institutions of liberal democracy. Inspired by Marx, Engels, and critical social theory, he focused on the structural conditions of capitalist societies and their impact on the construction of crime and the functioning of criminal justice.

Key Points

Key Arguments

• 1. Crime is a class phenomenon:
  Quinney argues that criminal behavior cannot be understood in isolation from the social context. It arises in a socioeconomic environment shaped by exploitation, alienation, and inequality. Especially people in precarious living conditions commit offenses out of necessity, marginalization, or lack of opportunity – such as theft, fare evasion, or drug dealing.
  Example: A teenager from a poor neighborhood is prosecuted for repeated shoplifting – a behavior stemming from material need rather than moral failure.
• 2. The state protects the ruling class:
  From Quinney’s perspective, the criminal justice system is not a neutral referee but an instrument of class domination. What is defined as “criminal” reflects political power relations. Laws are not universal but aligned with the interests of economically and politically dominant groups.
  Example: Possession of small amounts of cannabis is punished with prison time, while systematic tax avoidance by large corporations is often legally permitted or merely symbolically prosecuted.
• 3. Crime policy as class policy:
  Criminal prosecution focuses on specific types of crime – particularly those committed by the lower classes (e.g. property, traffic, or drug offenses). In contrast, white-collar crimes, environmental offenses, and political corruption are often under-prosecuted. Criminal law thus serves to discipline marginalized groups.
  Example: PovertyThe condition of lacking sufficient material resources to meet basic needs.-related crimes are punished with heavy police presence and incarceration, while environmental damage caused by corporations is often settled with fines – without penal consequences for executives.
• 4. The ideological function of crime:
  Public discourse on crime serves an ideological function: It focuses on individual failure instead of structural causes like unemployment, unequal education, or housing shortages. “LawA system of codified rules and sanctions recognized by the state. and Order” rhetoric generates moral outrage and legitimizes repressive measures that disproportionately affect the poor.
  Example: Media coverage of “criminal foreigners” or “clan crime” distracts from the root causes of exclusion – and fosters division instead of solidarity-based solutions.

“Law and legal repression are, and continue to serve as, the means of enforcing the interests of the dominant class in the capitalist state. Through the legal system, then, the state forcefully protects its interests and those of the capitalist ruling class. Crime control becomes the coercive means of checking threats to the existing social and economic order, threats that result from a system of oppression and exploitation.”
(Quinney, 1977, p. 45f.)

Typology of Crime

In Class, StateThe political institution that holds legitimate authority over a defined territory., and Crime, Quinney develops a differentiated typology of crime that shows not all deviance is equally state-produced or politically instrumentalized. He distinguishes:

• Predatory crime: Property and violent offenses rooted in poverty and marginalization, often harshly prosecuted.
• White-collar and corporate crime: Offenses committed by economic elites, often under-prosecuted or legitimized.
• Political crime: Acts of protest or resistance that are criminalized as threats to the system.
• Lumpen crime: Disorganized, destructive deviance without political consciousness – often criticized even by revolutionary movements.

This distinction makes clear: not all crime stems from repression – the crucial question is how society responds to it. While elite crime is often tolerated, the state reacts to political and subaltern crime with especially harsh repression.

Position within Critical Criminology

Quinney’s work is closely related to British New Criminology (Taylor, Walton & Young), but it differs in its stronger linkage to Marxist state theory and its explicitly political orientation. While the British authors sought a “unified theory” of deviance, Quinney analyzes the state as an institutionalized agent of class rule.

Criticism and Reception

Class, State, and Crime received both acclaim and critique:

• Praised for its sharp critique of the penal system and class society, as well as Quinney’s ability to link theory and empirical evidence.
• Criticized for its deterministic notion of class, which neglects pluralist and intersectional perspectives (e.g., gender, race).
• Later works mark a shift toward pacifist-humanist ethics, deviating from classical Marxism – a development seen as both controversial and a necessary expansion.

References

• Quinney, R. (1977). Class, State, and Crime: On the Theory and Practice of Criminal Justice. New York: Longman.
• Quinney, R. (1985). The Problem of Crime. Newbury Park: Sage.
• Taylor, I., Walton, P. & Young, J. (1973). The New Criminology. London: Routledge.
• Sack, F. (1968). New Perspectives in Criminology. In: Sack, F./König, R. (eds.): Criminal Sociology. Frankfurt a. M.: Athenäum, pp. 431–475.

Video

Richard Quinney interviewed by John Laub, November 1996