Social Class and Crime Flashcards
social class - white-collar crime
middle-class individuals who abuse their work position at the expense of employers, governments, clients for personal gain - occupational crime
social class - examples of white-collar crime
- GP made £700,000 from writing fake prescription
- Lord Conrad Black defrauded shareholders
- city trader in london committed fraud, cost the swiss bank £1.5b
social class - corporate crime
large companies/individuals commit offences to benefit the company and increase profit
- organisational crime
social class - corporate crime; paperwork & non-compliance
companies fail to comply to legal regulations and provide correct license
volkswagen made 11m cars that heated emulsion tests
social class - corporate crime; environmental crimes
deliberate or negligence damage to the environment
manufacturing offences
social class - corporate crime; incorrect labelling of products
false advertising
inadequate testing of thalidomide
social class - corporate crime; labour law violations
neglecting health and safety regulations
paying minimum wages & concealing industrial diseases
apple in china
social class - corporate crime; unfair trade practices
price fixing & illegally obtaining information on rival businesses
UK supermarkets were fined £50m for costing £270m more due to price fixing
social class - corporate crime; financial offences
tax evasion and concealing loses/debts
amazon & starbucks failed to pay taxes by using offshore centres
social class - reasons why white-collar & corporate crime are under-represented in official statistics
- hidden from view & hard to detect
- less obvious, personal harm or individual victims to report
- cases of bribery/corruption benefit other parties
- requires complex skill & expert knowledge, many police lack so hard to investigate
- lack of awareness that a crime has been committed, victims blame themselves for being gullible & making risky investments
social class - why white-collar/corporate offenders are not prosecuted
concealed by institutional protection:
offenders dealt with by internal administrations to protect the reputation of the institution
often lead to fine/notice than prosecution
if prosecuted, offenders receive lenient sentences than working-class due to stereotype that crime is working-class phenomena
social class - strain theory
fuelled by greed & power, middle-class people want even more have a sense of lacking things others have business may by-pass laws & regulations to maintain profits so turn to crime
social class - control theory
individuals socialised into self-seeking aggressive management cultures
crime included when competing with other companies, reduces moral control about doing wrong
to uphold social expectations of been in middle-class, but have financial difficulties maintaining their lifestyles
use illegitimate means through opportunities provided by their jobs
social class - differential association
aggressive management culture generates favourable climate for cooperate crime (loyalty to the firm)
people more likely to commit crime if they are associated with others who support illegal activities
social class - marxism
cooperate crime driven by crimogenic capitalism (need to maintain profits)
illegal means used if it cannot be achieved legally
