class

Question 1

class and crime - official statistics

Answer 1

• prisoners are 3-4 times less likely to have GCSEs in English and maths, suggests a correlation between low levels of educational achievement and crime
• 52% more crimes were recorded in the most income-deprived areas 2022
• drugs and weapons offences were recorded 2.3 times more in the most income-deprived areas

Question 2

Merton - strain theory

Answer 2

• People engage in deviant behaviour when their opportunities to achieve in legitimate ways are blocked
• USA society’s hierarchical structure denies working class people the opportunity to achieve the ‘money success’ that American culture values so highly
• this explains why the working class has a higher rate of utilitarian crime than the middle class

Question 3

Merton evaluation

Answer 3

Taylor - argued merton neglects the power relationships in society
eg who makes the law and who benefits from it

Question 4

Cohen - subcultural theory

Answer 4

• working class youths are culturally deprived. They have not been socialised into the mainstream, MC culture.
• Their failure to achieve in education leaves them at the bottom of the status hierarchy and leads to status frustration.
• Delinquent subcultures offer a solution - respect is gained from their peers, this can help explain non utilitarian crimes like vandalism.

Question 5

Evaluation of cohen

Answer 5

offers insight into delinquency, search for status within groups is an important factor that shapes society

Question 6

Gordon - criminogenic capitalism

Answer 6

• crime is not confined to the WC, the profit motive encourages a mentality of ruthless competition and greed.
• crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and hence it is found in all social classes

Question 7

evaluation of gordon

Answer 7

not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
eg homicide rates in japan and Switzerland are about a fifth of that in the USA,

Question 8

snider - the state and law making

Answer 8

• see law making and law enforcement as only serving the interests of capitalists
• argues that the capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that challenge unequal distribution of wealth or regulate businesses

Question 9

evaluation of snider

Answer 9

economically deterministic, crime exists in non-capitalist societies

Question 10

murray - the underclass

Answer 10

• argues that most crime is committed by a highly deviant, immoral and work-shy subculture called the underclass.
• this is made up of problem families living in inner-city council estates who socialise the next generation into crime as well as encouraging them to be dependent on state benefits
• main reason for growth in underclass is welfare state

Question 11

evaluation of murray

Answer 11

criticised by labelling theorist for scapegoating the poor and long term unemployment, encouraging the state to engage in negative surveillance and treatment of this social group

Question 12

becker - labelling theory

Answer 12

• argues that there is no such thing as a deviant act, an act only becomes deviant when others perceive and define it as such eg nudity
• a label is applied depending on the context and profiles of the actor + audience
• groups are targeted not because they are involved in a higher rate of offending but because of stereotypical perceptions

Question 13

evaluation of becker

Answer 13

labelling theory does not explain why people offend in the first place, before they are labelled