Crime and Social Class

Question 1

White-collar and corporate crime

Answer 1

‘Crime of the suites’, ‘Crimes of the powerful’. These often go undetected and unreported so official statistics give misleading picture of C&D

Question 2

Croall 2007: 2 types of M/C crime

Answer 2

White-collar crime: M/C who abuse positions at work for personal gain at expense of government, bosses or clients (also known as occupation crime).
Corporate crime: Offences committed by large companies or individuals working for them and this directly benefits company.

Question 3

Reasons for under-representation of White Collar crime in official statistics

Answer 3

• Hard to detect: Just looks like they’re doing their job
• Without personal or individual victims: No way to report it
• May benefit both parties
• Less likely to be found guilty

Question 4

Explanations

Answer 4

• Relative deprivation
• Control theory: Individuals socialised into ruthless business culture- illegal activities to get upper hand
• Nelken’s strain and control theory: People who have success try to remain extravagant lifestyle so use illegal means

Question 5

Marxist explanation

Answer 5

Criminogenic capitalism: Built to capitalist system, product of what happens when society fully orientated to achieving wealth.

Question 6

Labelling theory approach

Answer 6

These types of crime suggestively not labelled as criminal, such as corporate crime is seen as less criminal as it’s not intending to hurt anyone.

Question 7

Postmodern approach

Answer 7

Pleasurable thrill-seeking. Young men love rush and reward