Topic 3b: Social class and crime

Question 1

Marxism, social class and crime

Answer 1

It focuses on how the law and the agents of social control act in the interests of the powerful ruling class. Actions of the working class are the result of their poverty and disadvantage are clamped down on whereas the immoral actions of the ruling class are ignored.
Use knowledge from previous topic

Question 2

White collar and corporate crime

Answer 2

corporate crime - crime by corporations or businesses which has a serious physical or economic impact

Question 3

White collar and corporate crime - Conklin

Answer 3

pointed out about white collar and corporate crime in the USA…“The direct cost of business crime surpasses the cost of such conventional crimes as larceny, burglary, and auto-theft the estimated loss from these four crimes was about $3 billion to $4 billion a year. This figure pales in significance when compared with an estimated annual loss of $40 billion from various white collar crimes. “

Question 4

White collar and corporate crime - Box

Answer 4

has claimed that multinationals dump products, plants and practices, illegal in industrialised countries on to undeveloped or underdeveloped countries. They are able to do this because the poorer countries do not have the resources to control the large companies and also officials are likely to accept bribes.

Question 5

White collar and corporate crime eval

Answer 5

Left Realists suggest that it is justifiable for the police and courts to spend less attention on white-collar and corporate crimes. These crimes generally don’t victimise poor individuals and don’t have a major impact on communities - more in 6a

Question 6

Interactionism: the work of Cicourel 1

Answer 6

found a close relationship between social class and delinquency. When middle-class juveniles were arrested, there was less likelihood of them being charged with an offence than working class juveniles : their background did not fit the standard picture of the delinquent and Their parents were able to negotiate better. As a result, the middle-class juvenile is often defined as ill rather than criminal, as accidentally straying from the path of righteousness rather than committed to wrongdoing Cicourel argued ‘what ends up being called justice is negotiable’.

Question 7

Interactionism: the work of Cicourel 2

Answer 7

Cicourel based his research on two Californian cities, The socio-economic characteristics of the two were similar. However, Cicourel found a significant difference in the numbers of delinquents arrested and charged. He argues that this difference can only be accounted for by the size, organization, policies and practices of the juvenile and police bureaux. Cicourel argues delinquents are produced by the agencies of social control. Certain individuals are selected, processed and labelled as deviant. Justice is the result of negotiation in the interaction process

Question 8

Interactionism: the work of Cicourel eval

Answer 8

Taylor et.al.(1973), certainly argue that Cicourel fails to explain how subjective meanings originate. He fails to show why, for instance, the police see the ‘typical delinquent’ as coming from a low-income family. In common with other labelling theorists, he does not explain who has power in society, and how the possession of power might influence the definition of crime and deviance.

Question 9

intro

Answer 9

Reiner notes that there is a working-class bias in the prison population: 74% were either unemployed or employed at the lowest occupational levels, prior to their imprisonment. In youth detention centres approximately 8% of persistent offenders came from middle-class backgrounds. Offences can also be differentiated by social class. Middle-class offenders tend to be associated with white collar crime, fraud and tax evasion whilst working-class offenders are mainly found guilty of burglary and street crime.

Question 10

Conclusion

Answer 10

A Marxist you don’t use