Socialisation and the Underclass

• best agency of socialisation is the nuclear family
• Murray 1990: crime rate is increasing because of a growing underclass who fail to socialise their children adequately
• Murray 1990: the underclass is growing due to welfare dependency. 'generous revolution' of increasing welfare benefits causes dependency causing people to no longer need to work
• Murray 1990: 'generous revolution' causing increase in lone parent families ensuring there are ineffective socialisation agents for boys causing young men to turn towards delinquency to gain status and provide
• Bennet et al 1996: 'growing up surrounded by deviant. delinquent, and criminal adults in a practically perfect criminogenic environment - that is [one] that seems consciously designed to produce vicious, predatory and unrepentant street criminals'