Relationships In Crime

Question 1

Social Class and Crime

Answer 1

w/c and crime share an over- represented relationship with crime
Can be due to
- Subcultural Theories
- Status Frustration

Newburn - a focus on crime of the powerless rather than the powerful

White Collar Crime:
Sutherland - showed that crime was not just a problem of the w/c
- White collar crime is committed by the more affluent in society e.g: Fraud, Bribery

E.G: NHS GP stole £700k

Corporate Crime - Slapper:
1) ignore health and safety laws
2) Green Crime - damage to enviro
3) Counterfeit Goods
4) Tax Evasion

Reasons why affluent people commit white collar crime
- Katz and Lyng - Edgework
- Techniques of Neutralisation - they enter a state of drift
- Criminogenic Capitalism (dog eat dog)

Question 2

Gender and Crime

Answer 2

Official stats:
- 85% of arrests are male
- 95% of prison population is male

However crime stats can be mislead
Self reports show the male to female crime ratio was 3:1 (as opposed to 6:1)
- suggests maybe women are better at not getting caught?

Explanation 1: Sex Role Theory:
To do with gender socialisation
- Women’s traditional role is childcare
- Women have more to lose
- women have the fear of labelling

Explanation 2: The Class and Gender Deal:
Women conform to the:
- Class Deal - working in paid employment + ability to buy consumer goods
- Gender Deal - rewards from working at home (emotional + Financial support)

Explanation 3: Social Control:
Men and women dominate different spheres of society
- Public Sphere = outside the home, (male dominated), women in this have a fear of sexual crimes
- Private Sphere = (female dominated), home and childcare

Explanation 4: Chivalry Thesis:
Male sexism is part of the CJS
- women are treated more leniently than men due to Male Dominated Courts
- suggests males think females should be protected and so don’t convict them

+ Liberation Thesis:
Growing female criminality is a result of changing gender roles, women have more rights now
- Rising Ladette gang culture

Why do Men Commit more crime?
Connell - Hegemonic Masculinity leads to criminality as males try to reaffirm their masculine status by showing aggression

Males use Body Capital - use physical appearance as a means of status

Question 3

Ethnicity and Crime

Answer 3

Official Stats:
- 26% of the prison population are from a EMG
- Blacks are 9x more likely to be stopped and searched than YTs

Underclass - Modood - black are more likely to have a SPF
Cicourel Typifications - EMGs are more likely to be typified
Marginalisation - EMGs in subcultures

Direct and Indirect Racism
Direct - 9x more likely to be Stopped
Indirect - EMGs are more likely to be denied Bail

Reiner - Canteen Culture:
Institutional Racism is seen in the police as it is communicated on lunch breaks
(link to 2023 met report)

Myth of black criminality - Gilroy:
Black crime was a political act fighting back against oppression

Poverty and Social Exclusion:
Maybe it’s not ethnicity but poverty and exclusion

Asian Crime:
They are less likely to commit crime due to fears of dishonouring family name
- Asian gangs are exaggerated by the media (Alexander - 2000s)

More Intra-Ethnic Crime (blk on blk)

Question 4

Globalisation and Crime

Answer 4

Globalisation is the growing interconnectedness of the world
Trade, Transport, Technology

This increases, Drug Smuggling, Corporate Crimes and Counterfeit items

Global Crimes - Karofi:
1) Illegal Drugs trade
2) Human Trafficking
3) Money Laundering
4) Cyber Crime

Transnational Organised Crime:
Castelles argues organised crime now operates in many countries
Farr - 2 forms of global criminal networks:
- Established Mafia - Italian Mafia
- New Crime Groups - emerged since globalisation and the collapse of communism in Russia

Glenny - McMafia - (REMBER VIDEO):
Transnational Organised Crime now operates like McDonalds
- they provide the same goods and services around the world

“glocal” locally based crime is distributed to the world

Disorganised Capitalism:
Globalisation has lead to less regulation and state controls over business
1) Inequality - TNCs move businesses to developing countries (they can overlook safety laws)
2) More Opportunities for crime
3) Global Supply and Demand
West demand supply from developing countries

Global Risk Society:
Threats have gone from locally based crime to global threats (TERRORISM)

We can tackle globalised crime by operations such as:
- The UN
- Interpol