4.3.2

Social Class & Crime

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Explaining the Differences in Social Class and Crime

The working class are more likely to be included in the official crime statistics. The reasons for this include the following.

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Official statistics:

  • Official statistics:
    • These aren’t always accurate due to the dark figure of crime, i.e. crimes that are unreported or under-recorded.
    • Those crimes that are included in the OS are the ones that are easily identifiable.
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Anomie theory

  • Anomie theory - Merton:
    • Anomie is when societal norms break down.
    • According to Merton, this occurs when people have goals that they can’t achieve due to a lack of means.
    • This results in them trying to find other ways to do so which might be seen as deviant or be classed as criminal.
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Interactionism

  • Interactionism- labelling:
    • Usually people at the lower strata of the stratification system tend to be labelled as deviant and criminals as they commit easily traceable crimes such as theft.
    • The middle class commit crimes as well but because they are not easily detected they tend to go under the radar.
    • The working class are more likely to be labelled as criminals. When they live up to the label it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Subculture

  • Subculture:
    • Working-class youths experience status frustration because they can’t achieve the shared goals of society leading them to create subcultures with norms and values which might be deviant.
    • Joining a subculture gives them the chance to gain status.

Explaining the Differences in Social Class and Crime

Sociologists argue that there is a link between the class someone comes from and the likelihood of them committing a crime.

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Social class socialisation

  • Social class socialisation:
    • Working class children tend to lack the cultural capital that middle class parents offer to their children.
    • Working class children might either suffer from cultural deprivation, or lack of role models or they might have delinquent role models.
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Social class socialisation cont.

  • The social class can also affect the income of the family which might lead to material deprivation.
  • Lastly, social class can have an impact on educational attainment of children; where the working class do not do as well as middle-class counterparts.
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Status frustration- Cohen

  • Status frustration- Cohen:
    • People who are stuck at the lower layers of the social classes tend to experience status frustration because they lack the opportunities to achieve society’s shared goals.
    • This leads them to develop new values which are applicable to a delinquent subculture.
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Cohen cont.

  • White collar crime is crime committed by middle class people when they are at work.
  • White collar crime has various forms:
    • Corporate: carried out by directors.
    • Professional: carried out instead of another source of income, as a profession.
    • Computer: carried out by using a computer.
    • Occupational: carried out at work.

Jump to other topics

1The Sociological Approach

1.1Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?

1.1.2Culture & Socialisation

1.2Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism

1.2.2Marxism 2

1.2.3Functionalism

1.2.4Feminism

1.3The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach

2Families

2.1Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family

2.1.2Marxist Views on Family

2.1.3Feminist Views on Family

2.2Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?

2.2.2Nuclear Family

2.2.3Families in a Global Context

2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity

2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity

2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms

2.3Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles

2.4Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline

2.4.2Domestic Abuse

2.4.3Symmetrical Family

2.5Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families

2.5.2Marxist Views of Families

2.5.3Feminist Views of Families

2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate

2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families

2.6Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate

2.6.2Consequences of Divorce

2.6.3Functionalist Views

2.6.4Marxist Views

2.6.5Feminist Views

2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce

3Education

3.1Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach

3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives

3.1.3Types of School

3.1.4Alternative Education

3.1.5State & Private Schools

3.2Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes

3.2.2External Processes

3.3Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success

3.3.2Social Class & Education

3.3.3Social Class & External Factors

3.3.4Gender & Education

3.3.5Ethnicity & Education

3.3.6Parental Choice

3.3.7History of UK Education Policy

3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy

3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education

4Crime & Deviance

4.1The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance

4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime

4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime

4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime

4.2Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control

4.2.2Formal Social Control

4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime

4.3Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime

4.3.2Social Class & Crime

4.3.3Gender & Crime

4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime

4.3.5Age & Crime

4.3.6Criminal Responsibility

4.3.7The Prison System

4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime

4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime

4.4Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime

4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

5Social Stratification

5.1Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?

5.1.2Functionalism

5.1.3Socio-Economic Class

5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 2

5.1.5Life Chances

5.1.6The Affluent Worker

5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion

5.2Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty

5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty

5.2.3Explanations of Poverty

5.2.4Impact of Globalisation

5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue

5.3Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber

5.3.2Sociological Perspectives

5.3.3Power Relationships

5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority

6Sociological Research Methods

6.1Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design

6.1.2The Scientific Method

6.1.3Other Considerations

6.1.4Primary Sources

6.1.5Secondary Sources

6.1.6Surveys

6.1.7Sampling

6.1.8Questionnaires

6.1.9Interviews

6.1.10Observation

6.1.11Statistics

6.1.12Case Studies

6.1.13Longitudinal Studies

6.1.14Ethnography

6.1.15Experiments

6.1.16Small Scale Research

6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

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Explanations of Crime

Gender & Crime