Crime And Deviance 4 - Class

Question 1

Stats on class and crime?

Answer 1

Reiner (2008) and Young (2007) majority in prison for street crimes are from semi-skilled and unskilled manual backgrounds, whilst white collar crime are mainly middle class

Question 2

Functionalists view on working class and crime?

Answer 2

Merton’s Strain Theory (1968) working class individuals cannot achieve cultural goals by legitimate means, so turn to illegitimate
Cohen (1955) working class boys turn to crime because of status frustration

Question 3

Functionalists view on middle class and crime?

Answer 3

Reiner (2008) no limit to monetary success idealised by American Dream
Sutherland (1949) some business may have corporate crime as a part of their culture e.g. corporate lawyers look for ways to pay less company tax, on the cusp of legality

Question 4

Marxists view on working class and crime?

Answer 4

Gordon (1991) criminogenic capitalism, working class driven to crime to survive, culture of envy and materialism, its a way to vent frustration at the world

Question 5

Marxists view on middle class and crime?

Answer 5

Gordon (1991) capitalist culture encourages the already rich to further enrich themselves
Croall (2001) powerful have greater opportunities to cover up the crimes they’ve committed
Box (1983) selective policing encourages white collar crime as perpetrators less likely to be detected