Social Class & Crime
Sociology: AQA GCSE, topic 4.3.2
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Test yourself on Social Class & Crime
What might working-class youths experience if they can’t achieve the shared goals of society?
Who argued that anomie occurs when people have goals that they can’t achieve due to a lack of means?
What type of white collar crime is carried out instead of another source of income, (as a profession)?