Lec 12 Flashcards
The underclass was first coined in
1918 to refer to most people oppressed by the capitalist class
There are as many definitions of the underclass as there are
Sociologists due to the concept’s ambiguity
People at the bottom of the social heap
Structurally separate and are culturally distinct from traditional patterns of decent working-class
People of the underclass
People with quasi-criminal, anti-social, anti-work cultures of welfare dependency
Below the upper class is
The middle class, so there is a underclass below the working class (Runciman 1990)
Underclass
People who are unable to participate in the labour market at all
Myrdal (1962) states that people were left economically redundant due to
Technological progress under capitalism
Auletta (1982) states underclass came from
People unable to assimilate to the culture of society
Drug addicts, drop out etc.
The idea of the underclass is reflection of
Social definition
How does Marx and Engel view the underclass
The burdensome, pauperized, residual, dislocated, and redundant population
John Westergaard identified four versions of the underclass thesis
Moral Turpitude Thesis
The outcast poverty thesis
Agnostic thesis
Atheist thesis
Moral turpitude thesis
Underclass people are culturally deficient
The outcast poverty thesis
Underclass people are those displaced by economic instability
Agnostic thesis
Being sceptical of the existence of the underclass
Atheist thesis
There is no underclass
Charles Murray’s view on the underclass
People with low intelligence and unemployment
Underclass as idle, thieving bastards
Compared US and Uk underclass
Underclass as victims of circumstance
The role of economy
Government policies
Structural inequalities
White-collar crime/deviance is a
Financial crime by individuals in privileged positions in business and public organizations
Includes fraud, corruption etc.
White collar crime/deviance is accompanied or enabled by
Convenience
saving time and effort and avoiding pain
Three theoretical explanations for white collar deviance
Financial motives
Opportunity
Offenders willingness or rationality
The financial costs of white-collar deviance exceed
under/lower class deviance
5 categories of violent crime
Assault
Criminal harassment
Homicide
Robbery
Sexual assault
in 2014 the 5 categories of violent crime cost Canada
$12.7 billion
The 2009 bankruptcy of Canada’s Nortel as a cause of executive fraud cost
$300 billion
