C&D- CLASS & CRIME Flashcards
Why do police expectations of hooliganism and delinquency not fit with upper-class examples?
Police expectations of hooliganism and delinquency are often associated with working-class individuals, which doesn’t align with upper-class behavior.
Why are middle-class individuals treated differently by the police?
Middle-class individuals are not typically labeled as ‘troublemakers,’ and police tend to deal with them differently based on how they are dressed, their body language, etc.
What does selective enforcement of the law mean?
It refers to the different treatment that middle and upper-class delinquents receive from the police, as they are less likely to be charged or arrested.
How do middle and upper-class individuals manipulate the criminal justice system?
They use their cultural capital to deal with the police in a conciliatory manner, such as apologizing or offering to pay for damages, making justice more negotiable.
Why are crimes committed in the course of a person’s occupation hard to detect?
These crimes are often hidden, such as when patients die due to illness, making them difficult to identify as criminal acts.
Why don’t employers prosecute their employees for fraud?
Employers avoid prosecuting employees for fraud to prevent negative publicity or loss of public confidence.
Explanations for Working-Class Crime
How does Merton’s Functionalist strain theory explain working-class crime?
Merton argues that the working class faces barriers in achieving success through legitimate means, leading them to turn to crime to achieve societal goals.
How does Cohen’s Functionalist subcultural theory explain working-class crime?
Cohen suggests that working-class individuals suffer from status frustration, which leads them to join subcultures that may engage in criminal behavior.
How do Cloward & Ohlin explain working-class subcultures and crime?
Cloward & Ohlin argue that subcultures form in working-class neighborhoods where legitimate opportunities are scarce, which leads to criminal behavior as a means of success
What is Murray’s explanation of crime in the underclass?
Murray argues that the underclass is unable to socialize their children properly, leading to delinquency and criminal behavior.
How does traditional Marxism explain working-class crime?
Marxists argue that the working class breaks the law due to exploitation and frustration, committing both utilitarian and non-utilitarian crimes.
What is the New Criminology view on working-class crime?
Taylor, Walton, and Young argue that the working class chooses to break the law as a pro-revolutionary action against the ruling class.
How do Lea and Young explain working-class crime in Left Realism?
Lea and Young argue that relative deprivation and marginalization push working-class individuals to join subcultures, leading to criminal behavior.
How does Interactionism explain working-class crime?
Interactionism suggests that the working class is more likely to be labeled as criminal due to police stereotyping, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy and secondary deviance.
Why aren’t middle-class crimes typically labeled as criminal?
Middle-class individuals are less likely to be labeled as criminal, so the self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP) of criminality does not occur for them.
Explanations for Middle-Class Crime
How does Traditional Marxism explain middle-class crime?
Marxists argue that competition for profit in capitalism leads the ruling class to use corporate crime (CC) to maximize profits.
How does Box combine Marxism and Merton’s strain theory to explain corporate crime?
Box suggests that corporations may resort to criminal acts when their legitimate opportunities for profit are blocked, innovating to achieve profit goals illegally.
What does Clinard and Yeager’s study show about corporate crime?
Clinard and Yeager’s study shows that when profits fall, law violations by large companies increase, showing a willingness to innovate to achieve profit goals.
What are some criticisms of Marxism and Box’s theories on business crime?
Nelken argues that the need to maintain goodwill with other companies prevents corporations from committing crimes, and Marxists over-predict crime in capitalist states.
How does Left Realism explain middle-class crime?
Young suggests that relative deprivation is spreading to the middle class in late modernity, leading to crime, such as hate crimes.
How does Differential Association (Sutherland) explain middle-class crime?
Sutherland argues that crime is learned through social interactions, particularly in workplaces where individuals may be socialized into criminal behavior.
How do Sykes and Matza explain deviant behavior in middle-class crime?
Sykes and Matza argue that individuals justify their deviance through techniques of neutralization, such as saying they were just following orders or victim blaming.
What is de-labelling in relation to white-collar crime (WCC)?
De-labelling refers to the process where middle-class crimes are not treated as criminal offenses, allowing perpetrators to avoid prosecution and maintain their reputations.
White-Collar Crime (WCC) and Corporate Crime (CC)- What does Sutherland say about white-collar crime?
Sutherland defines white-collar crime as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation.
What is the scale and impact of corporate crime?
Corporate crime has a huge impact, causing physical harm (e.g., deaths, injuries), environmental harm (e.g., pollution), and economic harm (e.g., consumer loss, taxpayer burden).
What types of corporate crimes are there?
Types of corporate crime include financial fraud (e.g., tax evasion, bribery), crimes against consumers (e.g., unsafe products), crimes against employees (e.g., discrimination, health and safety violations), and crimes against the environment (e.g., pollution).
What is state corporate crime?
State corporate crime occurs when the government collaborates with businesses to pursue its goals, often leading to abuses of trust and public harm.
Why is corporate crime often invisible in official crime statistics?
Corporate crime is under-represented because it receives limited media coverage, lacks political will to address it, is complex to investigate, and is often de-labelled as a civil offense rather than a criminal one.
What is the penalty for white-collar crime compared to street crime?
White-collar criminals receive lighter sentences, averaging less than 36 months in prison, while first-time non-violent drug offenders receive 64 months on average.
What is the financial cost of fraudulent unemployment benefit claims compared to healthcare fraud?
Fraudulent unemployment benefit claims in the UK amount to £3 billion, while fraud within the NHS by employees amounts to £6 billion.
How does corporate crime relate to the 2008 economic crisis?
Since the 2008 economic crisis, corporate crime has become more visible due to the activities of organizations like Occupy, UK Uncut, and the work of whistleblowers and journalists.
What is the impact of corporate crime on consumers?
Crimes against consumers include making and selling unsafe products, such as the Ford Pinto in the 1970s (which caused between 500 and 700 deaths) and Thalidomide in the 1960s, which led to the birth of thousands of physically disabled babies due to fraudulent testing.
What is the impact of corporate crime on employees?
Crimes against employees include sexual and racial discrimination, violation of wage laws, and breaches of health and safety laws, which can lead to work-related deaths. Tombs argues that 1,100 work-related deaths a year are due to employers breaking the law.
What are crimes against the environment in corporate crime?
Crimes against the environment include illegal disposal of waste and pollution, which harms both the environment and the public.
How does Tombs describe corporate crime’s impact on society?
Tombs argues that corporate crime has widespread and routine harm, doing far more damage than street crimes in terms of physical, environmental, and economic consequence
