Social Class

Question 1

Middle Class: White-Collar Crime Examples

Answer 1

• Embezzlement -> financial fraud, stealing money from someone else’s bank account and transferring it to your own (lawer embezzles money from clients)
• Fiddling expenses -> employees dishonestly alter financial documents to get more money for themselves (ask taxi drivers for blank reciepts to claim more money)

Question 2

Middle Class: Reasons for Low Prosecution Rates

Answer 2

• Hard to detect -> hidden from view, people appear to be doing legitimate work
• Dealt with internally by companies -> most dealt within the company in fear of bad publicity (fire the employee or cut their wages)
• Lack of awareness that a crime has been committed -> may not realise they are the victim of a crime (steal 1p from thousands of bank accounts)
• No individual victim to report the offence -> fraud against the NHS and taxpayer, doctor falsifies prescriptions and patient records to claim thousands of pounds

Question 3

Corporate Crimes: Merton’s Strain Theory

Answer 3

• Want more money or profit that they can’t achieve through legitimate means
• Commit insider trading to obtain more money for a second home and Porshe
• Furlough fraud - force workers to come in during lockdown to maintain profit