Social Class and Crime Flashcards
what are the 5 types of corporate crime
-financial
-crimes against consumers
-crimes against employees
-crimes against the environment
-state- corporate crime
give two examples of corporate crime
-Amazon unfit working conditions
-VW environmental scandal
what are the 5 main reasons WCC goes unnoticed/ unreported
-the media
-lack of will to tackle it
-complexity
-de labelling
-under reporting
explain how the media makes WCC go unnoticed
-crime seen as w/c phenomenon with limited WCC coverage
-sympathetic language used makes it seem accidental
explain how the lack of will to tackle WCC makes it go unnoticed
-politicians only stay tough on street crime
-limited surveys/ research on corporate crime
explain how complexity makes WCC go unnoticed
-law enforcers are often understaffed, under resourced and lack expertise to tackle it effectively
explain how de labelling makes WCC go unnoticed
-offences often defined as civil not criminal and punishments are fines not jail sentences
explain how under reporting makes WCC go unnoticed
-victims may not be aware of the crime and may not regard it as a real crime
-may feel powerless against big corporations
what are the four main theories and theorists that explain WCC
-Box’s Strain Theory
-Sutherland’s Differential Association
-Nelken’s Labelling
-Marxism
explain Box’s Strain theory and how it causes WCC
-Box argues companies use illegitimate means to maximise profits if they cannot do so by legal means
which theorists support Box’s strain theory as an explanation of WCC and how
-Clinard and Yeager found law violations increased as financial performance deteriorated
explain Sutherland’s differential association theory as an explanation of WCC
-crime is learned behaviour from social contexts
-if a company’s culture justifies committing crime to achieve corporate goals, employees will be socialised into criminality
what other theory links to Sutherland’s differential association theory and how
-deviant subcultures as they share set of norms different to wider society
which theorists support Sutherland’s differential association and how
-Sykes and Matza; techniques of neutralisation used to justify deviancy
-eg victim blaming or everyones doing it or just following orders
explain Nelson’s labelling theory and how it causes MCC
-unlike the poor, corporations have power to avoid labelling through access to experts and resources
-lack of resources to investigate may also prevent labelling from convictions
-explains lack of official stats
