✅Is Crime A Working Class Activity Flashcards
Introduction -yes it is a working class activity
New right Wilson -crime is caused by the breakdown of informal social control in working class areas Statistic -90% prison population is working class Rosenbaum -problem communities consist of people living in poverty
Introduction -no crime isn’t a working class activity
Marxist Chambliss -WC targeted by police and courts as seen in his roughnecks and saints study
Critic NR for ignoring the real crime, white collar crime
Statistic- tax evasion last year cost uk £1.7 billion (HMRC)
Sociologists to be discussed for new right realism
- Wilson
- Friedman
- Farrington and West
- Van den Hagg
- Etzoni
What does Wilson argue about crime being a working class activity?
1) crime flourished when informal social control breaks down (in WC areas)
2) need re moralisation of the WC to reduce crime
3) Wilson and Heirnstein argue that some people have a predisposition towards crime and this combined with a lack of socialisation (occurring in SPF in the underclass Dennis) perpetuates WC crime.
What does Friedman argue about crime being a working class activity?
Blames welfare state for increase crime as working class no longer take individual responsibility for family :: more likely to risk criminal activity as they will be supported regardless
What does Farrington and west argue about crime being a working class activity?
Longitudinal study of 411 boys born in 1953, found by age 25 1/3 of cohort had a criminal record, and that 5% of cohort was responsible for over 50% of crimes, establishing link between poorer members of cohort and crime.
What does Van den Hagg argue about crime being a working class activity?
In capitalist societies it’s inevitable that poor ‘losers’ will attempt to cheat the system and turn to crime, and hense the majority of crime are committed by WC
What does Etzoni argue about crime being a working class activity?
Decisions in society have been pushed away from the working class (90% of judges are white middle class) and therefore people feel it’s the polices responsibility to minimise crime not theirs (communitisation) increasingly the likelihood of WC crime.
What are the Marxists who discuss whether crime is a working class activity
- Quinney (1977)
- Neocleous (2000)
- Box
- Bonger
- Tombs and Whyte
What does Quinney argue about crime being a working class activity?
States that the law is used to oppress the working class, largely ignoring white collar crime which exists
What does Neocleous argue about crime being a working class activity?
Police have been used as a tool of capitalism since they were first established
What does Box argue about crime being a working class activity?
It’s difficult for poorer groups to get political representation in today’s social structure :: laws rather the working class unfairly e.g about protecting property
What does Bonger argue about crime being a working class activity?
Poor people are driven to crime by their desperate conditions
What does Tombs and Whyte argue about crime being a working class activity?
Corporate crimes are rarely considered newsworthy, moral panics scapegoat etc etc
New left sociologists paragraphs
1) Young and Lea (1984)
2) Jock young
3) Blair (1995)
4) perry pre school project
What did young and Lea (1984) argue about whether crime is a working class activity
Three main reasons for crime
1) relative deprivation (deprived compared to others, bulimic soviety (jock young) where Were constantly hungry for more material goods. Rich kids of insta
2) subculture (subcultures develop due to marginalisation -link to strain later on)
3) marginalisation (political marginalisation where where nobody to represent interests)
What is the positive evaluation with young and lea?
Gilroy ‘ain’t no black in the Union Jack’ :: ethic minorities (poorest in population in terms of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis driven to commit more crime)
Hirschi social bonds positive evaluation also
What does Blaire (1995) argue about whether crime is a WC activity?
We should be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime and :: employ more programmes e.g operation headstart and compensatory education to decrease WC crime and abandon police tactics such as stop and search unfairly targeting WC
Describe what the perry pre school project found out about whether crime is a working class activity
Two groups of children aged 4 from disadvantaged backgrounds were chosen, one group with education support and frequent visits from social workers and the other nothing. By the age of 27 the group with the interventions had half the number of arrests as the group without
What are the new left realist points to consider?
- Taylor, Walton and Young
- Why they commit crimes
- Environmental theory
- Stuart Hall ‘policing crisis’
What does Taylor, Walton and young argue about whether crime is a WC activity?
Published the ‘new criminology’ which explains that capitalism, competition and greed are all causes for crime, not exclusive to blue collar but large influences on white collar crime.
- they believe blue collar theft is necessary for property redistribution as a Robin Hood motive
- Socialism would cut crime
What negatively evaluated Taylor Walton and Young
Environmental theory, states that people steal from zones of proximity and :: WC steal from WC areas affecting those also in poverty not the rich
What did Stuart Hall argue about whether crime is a WC activity?
That ‘policing crisis’ are used to distract from political problems (e.g economic crisis or social inequality). In 1973 reportings of muggings led to an 129% increase in the crimes over a 4 year period. This was due to moral panic, but also governments unfairly promoting WC crime to demonise young black working class males
What are the subculturalists you should discuss?
Merton
Cohen
Miller
