Class and Offending

Question 1

The working class, unskilled and unemployed are overrepresented in the penal system. What are the two dispositional theories used to explain this?

Answer 1

Merton- Strain theory (Can’t obtain assets legitimately so turn to illegitimate means) and Cohen’s- Subcultural theories (Create own deviant subcultures as cant fit into middle class ones).

Question 2

The working class, unskilled and unemployed are overrepresented in the penal system. What are the critical theories to explain this?

Answer 2

Marxism- Law serves interests of upper class therefore lower class get it disproportionately applied to them.
Hall and Scraton 1981- over-policing and penalising of the 'dangerous classes'.

Question 3

How do LSE conceptualise class?

Answer 3

Economic status- earnings/savings
Social status- people you associate with
Cultural status- cultural activities you take part in

Question 4

What are Williams 1988 3 categories to conceptualise class?

Answer 4

Group- it’s an objective, social or economic category
Rank- It’s defined by your relative social position by birth or mobility. (Born into it)
Formation- It is formed by a perceived economic relationship. Shared social political and cultural beliefs.

Question 5

Post modernist/ structuralist view of class?

Answer 5

It is dead. Other categories or diversity strands are more important/ bigger predictors.

Question 6

Econmetrics: Field 1990

Answer 6

Consumer expenditure is good predictor of crime levels. Drift in and out of criminal activity depending on economic status.

Question 7

Econometrics: Box 1987

Answer 7

In times of economic recession crime gets worse. (Depends on length of economic strife and how bad it was).

Question 8

Econometrics: Hale 1999

Answer 8

Crime and the changing labour market:

• shift from factory jobs to service sector
• Increase of part time employment and temporary jobs
• Dual labour market- less jobs for men and less supervision at home

Question 9

Ecological link: Zone in transition

Answer 9

Socially disorganised. Durkheim 1993- when rules breakdown people feel in a state of anomie or a meaningless in life, therefore more crime occurs.

Question 10

Ecological link: Hirschi 1969 Social Bond theory

Answer 10

If there is a chaotic socially disorganised area then social bonds/ attachments to that community are harder to form= crime.

Question 11

Home Office National Prison Survey 1991

Answer 11

18% of prison population compared to 45% of general population has non manual jobs.
41% of prison population and 19% of general population had semi and unskilled jobs.

Question 12

Bottoms and McClean 1976

Answer 12

only 5% of D’s in criminal courts had professional and managerial occupations.

Question 13

Criminalise the lower classes? Pilivan and Brior 1964

Answer 13

Found evidence of class bias at police stage as police decided to arrest based on persons demenor.

Question 14

Criminalise the lower classes? Smith 1983/ Kisney 1984

Answer 14

Unemployed more likely to be stopped by police/ S+S

Question 15

Criminalise the lower classes? Bennet 1979

Answer 15

Middle class offenders are more likely to receive caution or warning than arrest.

Question 16

Criminalise the lower classes? Crow 1989

Answer 16

unemployed more likely to receive a custodial sentence

Question 17

Criminalise the lower classes? Cook at al 1989

Answer 17

HM Revenue and customs More likely pursue benefits scam than tax fraud offence

Question 18

Tooms and White 2008

Answer 18

Agencies that oversee health and safety in the workplace are more likely to warn/ fine than prosecute.

Question 19

Radical Approach

Answer 19

Criminalisation eg. marxism (Hall and Scraton 1981)

Question 20

Right realism

Answer 20

Underclass, a criminogenic culture (Murray 1990)

Question 21

Left realism

Answer 21

they commit more crime because they are socially excluded- crime as a reality for them

Question 22

The political economy

Answer 22

The types of crime committed is linked to the type of society we are in (Reiner 2007)

Question 23

Individualised risk

Answer 23

Irrelevance of class or any other group effect on offending (Wikstram 2006)