WEEK 4 - CLASS & COMMUNITRY

Question 1

– What are the economic and social reasons that explain
why certain categories of young people commit
particular kinds of offences?

Answer 1

ECONOMIC
• The possible factors embedded
within the relationship between
socio-economic status and
crime:
–Structural
–Situational and Personal
–Social Disorganisation

Question 2

– How does the State try to enforce a specific kind of
social order when dealing with the activities engaged
by working class and ethnic minority young people in
public spaces?

Answer 2

Sphere of Consumption
– BUT many shop and business owners may consider
these poor young people as being “worthless”
• Why?
– Increasing trend of privatisation / transformation of
public/community space into consumer space
• Where then can the youth go to socialize and
congregate?
– Increased visibility in an ever decreasing number of
public spaces
• What are the results of this increased visibility for
the youth?

Question 3

What is needed by the community to reduce youth criminal behaviour and deviance?

Answer 3

Achieving social justice is thus key!
• Community-level intervention is greatly
needed to address
– structural criminogenic factors that underpin
working class offending and anti-social
behaviour

Question 4

What is the sphere of production?

Answer 4

• Capitalist states normally distribute economic
resources based on
– the dictates of market forces i.e. supply and
demand
• A welfare state ameliorates capitalism by
– providing a safety net of goods and services
• Sometimes, there is an informal market or
economy within the community
– illegal or criminal or
– legal and cooperative

The state i.e. government, thus plays a critical economic
justice role in our community. To achieve this however,
social policy must be balanced against market forces by
formulating appropriate policies in:
– Fiscal matters;
– Monetary issues; and
– Labour market concerns