The modernization theories of crime regard it as a natural accompaniment of the process of change that occurs with a nation's development. These theories do not expose the class interests served by criminal laws and rough justice and fail to recognize that criminal laws are part of the State control system which works to sustain a specific capitalist dynamic. The criminalization of the unemployed urban masses needs to be examined within the context of the class relations and history of an underdeveloped society. The classic themes of the modernization approach are delineated in Clinard and Abbott's 1973 book, 'Crime in Developing Countries.' Their analysis rests on a fundamental misconception regarding the nature of imperialism and lacks a thorough structural analysis of underdeveloped societies and their place in the international social order. They and other authors also fail to consider the role of criminal law in colonialism. The history of the developing Rhodesian mining industry at the turn of the century illustrates the use and abuse of the criminal law by powerful classes in the processes of primitive accumulation of land and labor. Van Onselen has shown in detail how integral criminal law and crime are to the development of underdevelopment. No references are cited.