Social class and crime

• Explanations for trends in social class and crime include Selective Law Enforcement, where the police force and criminal justice system treat the working class and the middle class differently.
• Middle class are more likely to get a slap on the wrist as they are seen as having made a mistake, while the working class are more likely to be arrested for the same crime.
• Many corporate crimes are not investigated or prosecuted by the criminal justice system.
• Selective Law Creation refers to those who create the law often being of the middle and upper classes, allowing them to manipulate the law into benefiting their own needs.
• Prison populations are made up more from the working class than from the middle class or the upper classes.
• Street crimes such as theft, assault and shoplifting are common among the working class.
• More white collar crime, corporate crime and cyber crime are committed by the middle class.
• White Collar Crime is when a person uses their job or company to commit crime for personal gain, such as embezzlement, fraud and insider trading.
• Corporate Crime refers to crimes committed by a company in order to increase profits and company standing, including healthy and safety violations and paying below minimum wage.
• Reiner explains working class crime by using Merton Strain theory, but also explains middle class crime and white collar crime by suggesting that there is no limit to success financial or material so even those who appear successful can feel strain.
• Murray suggests that the underclass is responsible for the majority of street crime.
• Hirschi suggests that the underclass are more likely to lack impulse control and bonds to the community which prevent them from committing crime.
• Gordon suggests that capitalism encourages the working class to be criminal by creating a culture of envy and hostility.
• Becker suggests that the working class are unfairly targeted by the CJS, they are less likely to be able to negotiate the system to their advantage.
• The middle class have more opportunities to commit white collar crime and corporate crime as they hold the positions within the company which gives them the access required to commit this type of crime.
• Messerscmidt suggests that middle class men who engage in white collar crime may do so to show off their masculinity.
• Katz suggests that engaging in white collar crime can also link to the idea of edgework and the feeling of excitement and adrenaline the acts may give.
• Labelling and Stereotypes suggest that the working class are often labelled as being more criminogenic and therefore the criminal justice system sees them as making conscious choices to commit crime where as middle class are seen as making a mistake or unintentionally committing a crime.
• Street Crime, also referred to as blue collar crime, includes crimes such as theft, assault vandalism and shoplifting.