Social class and crime

• Link

  • Official statistics show a link between being convicted of a crime and social factors like class, gender, ethnicity, and age.
  • Maguire (2007) notes that more males, young people, black people, poor people, and poorly educated individuals are in prison compared to the general population
  • research shows that working classes are disproportionately more likely to be convicted and sent to prison than middle class and upper class people
  • Marxists argue that there is a lot of white collar and corporate crime that's not detected or convicted
• Inaccurate statistics

  • Crime statistics can be inaccurate due to underreporting and biased policing.
  • Studies link crime to unemployment or low-paying jobs.
  • Lower-income individuals often commit more visible and identifiable crimes, increasing arrest and prosecution likelihood.
  • More targeted by police
  • Middle and upper-class individuals are more likely to commit less visible, white-collar crimes that are harder to detect.
• Socialisation

  • Children often adopt the norms and values of their parents.
  • Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development found a correlation between criminal children and poor parental child-rearing practices, such as harsh and inconsistent discipline.
  • New right sociologist Murray controversially claims that children from one-parent families are inadequately socialized but this is not is not supported by evidence.
• Functionalist explanations

  • Merton’s Strain Theory: Explains the link between working-class members and crime by suggesting anomie occurs when goals and means to achieve them are mismatched.
  • Blocked Opportunities: When individuals can't afford societal goals (like goods or activities), may turn to crime to achieve them.
  • Cambridge Study (1995): Found a correlation between criminal children and family poverty / poor housing.
  • Cohen: Linked status frustration to w/c boys, leading to deviant behavior.
  • Walter Miller: Saw deviant subcultural values (focal concerns) as applying to the lower w/c
• Marxist Explanations

  • Argue that crime statistics overrepresent working-class crime while underreporting white-collar crime, often committed by the middle and upper class.
  • Marxists believe police and courts focus on working-class crime, while crimes by the ruling class often go unpunished or are treated leniently.
  • They acknowledge that wider structural issues like poverty, material deprivation, and unemployment influence working-class crime.
• Interactionist Explanations

  • Focuses on how labelling constructs crime as associated with lower classes.
  • Labelling Theory: Asks why certain behaviors are labeled as deviant or criminal, often based on social class.
  • Police and Courts: Poorer groups are more likely to be labeled as criminals by the police and courts.
  • Working class commits visible crimes (e.g., vandalism, theft), while middle class commits hidden crimes (e.g., fraud).
  • Labeling Effects: Once labeled as criminal, individuals are more likely to be seen as such,
  • Stereotypical characteristics= leads to a miscarriage of justice.
• Miscarriage of justice

  • when a failure occurs within the criminal justice system especially one which results in a conviction of an innocent person
• White collar crime

  • although official statistics show that most criminal activity appears to be associated with working class young people, white collar crime costs society more than the value of burglaries and bank robberies
  • Predominantly committed by middle and upper-class individuals, often in the course of their work
• • Types of White Collar Crime:
  • Occupational Crime: Committed by individuals during work (e.g., theft, fraud).
  • Professional Crime: Career-based crimes, a lifetime career (e.g., drug running).
  • Corporate Crime: Committed by company directors to increase profits.
  • Computer Crime: Involves illegal activities using computers (e.g., fraud).
  • Cost Comparison: White collar crime costs society much more than street crimes like burglary.
  • Estimated Cost of Fraud (UK): £193 billion per year (University of Portsmouth Centre)
  • Cost of Burglaries: £2.2 billion per year (Association of British Insurers)