Strain theory - people commit crimes because they cannot achieve approved goods
Durkheim

believes crime is inevitable for a fully functioning society
Too much crime = needs more social control
too little crime = needs to be more flexible
The American dream 

Anyone can achieve their dreams however people are disadvantaged eg gender or race causing them to have less chance of success leading them to crime
Cohen: Status frustration 

WC commit crimes as a way of rejecting the MC values
Recent strain theory

young people may pursue a variety of goals - failure to achieve these goals may result in delinquency
Cicourel

found that police officers often concentrated on certain areas which has lead to a class bias as the WC areas are more likely to be patrolled more intensively
the dark figure of crime 

the difference between the official statistics + the real rate of crime = we do not know how much is committed as crime goes undetected + unrecorded
functionalists - class difference 

people commit crime due to bad/lack of socialisation
people engage in deviant acts as a legitamate way was blocked
Marxists - class differences
laws help mc + not the wc
crime is enviable in capitalism as it is criminogenic as capitalism is dog eat dog system which encourages profits
