Class, Crime and Justice

• Most theories of crime focus on the fact that the working class have higher rates of criminality
• Merton's strain theory - blocked opportunities lead w/c boys to vent their frustrations through crime
• Marxists say the working class are overrepresented in crime as the ruling class control both the creation and enforcement of laws, and the cjs is designed to punish the working class
• Bonger says capitalism is criminogenic, and thus working class are most encouraged to commit crime because they are in lower paid positions
• Cicourel points out that middle class parents are better equipped to navigate the cjs than working class parents
• Murray - inadequate socialisation of boys leads to juvenile delinquency
• Right realism focuses on negative stereotypes without considering other societal factors
• Left realists say deprivation, subcultures and marginalisation all impact the working class
• Sutherland introduced the term 'white collar crime', referring to crime in non-manual positions, typically in the workplace
• White collar crime could be corporate - acting in the interests of the company - or occupational - acting in the interests of the individual
• White collar crime includes embezzlement, insider trading, tax evasion and bribery
• Bernie Madoff sentenced to 150 years after creating a Ponzi scheme that embezzled $50 billion
• Corporate crime is under-reported and rarely results in prison sentences
• Financial offences - companies engage in criminal activity in the pursuit of profit
• Offences against consumers - companies mislead consumers or failed to ensure safety, eg thalidomide scandal
• Offences against employees - failing to enforce employee rights or health and safety standards
• Offences against environment - green crime is often carried out on a large scale by companies
• Kramer and Michalowski suggest state-corporate crime, in which private agencies commit crimes when working on behalf of the state
• Snider - corporations have a culture that encourages risk-taking, especially due to competition
• Those in high positions likely already have competitive and risk-taking personalities
• Gordon says the dog eat dog nature of capitalism drives businesses to get ahead by illegitimate means
• Companies may be acting legally but not morally
• There may be less risk involved in white collar crime, as laws are deregulated and even when caught, sentencing is unlikely and fines are small compared to profit
• Globalisation allows companies to move to countries with less legislation, which is linked with politics. Leads to exploitation of cheap labour
• Corporations are often unaffected by criminal labels, eg Nestle, and have access to PR to regain image in public eye