Flashcards on Social Class and Crime (1.8)

What two sources are used to understand the relationship between social class and crime?

Official statistics indicate that most people convicted of indictable offences have what sort of backgrounds?

According to the Prison Reform Working Group, what percentage of prisoners were unemployed prior to their imprisonment, what percentage were homeless, and what percentage had been raised in care?

However, these sorts of statistics do have their limitations. Why?

Why does the fact that the statistics only detail the social class of those convicted and imprisoned make them less useful?

What is an alternative to the official statistics used to measure the relationship between class and crime?

In recent years, there has only been one study that has examined the issue of class and crime. What is the study called?

The study analysed the independent effects of a number of variables on offending and drug use. What did it find?

A number of alternative factors seemed to have a stronger link to crime than social class. Give examples of these alternatives:

From these findings, it is possible that rather than being linked to social class influences, what may crime actually be linked to?

However, why can the nature of the sample used in the study be criticised?

Most theorists assume that, for whatever reason, the working class do indeed commit more crime than the middle class. There are generally two explanations for this. What are they?

Which sociologists provide evidence in favour of the material explanation to crime?

Karl Marx associated crime with which group?

In agreement with Marx, David Gordon argues that capitalism generates what sort of criminogenic mentality?

Another explanation of crime comes from Robert Merton, who discussed the relationship between materialistic factors and culture. According to Merton, crime is the result of what?

Why does Merton believe the working class are more likely to turn to illegitimate, illegal ways of achieving?

However, this does not explain why we do have middle-class offenders. How does Merton explain their desire to commit crime?

Which sociologist developed Merton's theory?

Cohen placed more emphasis on cultural factors. When studying delinquent boys, what did Cohen notice about much of their crime?

Based on the type of crime being committed, Cohen concluded that the behaviour could be explained in terms of what?

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin also developed on Merton's idea. What concept did they discuss?

Illegitimate opportunity structures may lead to the development of what?

What happens to those who do not find success in either conflict or criminal subcultures?

Left realists John Lea and Jock Young argue that it is not a lack of material success itself which leads to criminality. Rather, what is the primary cause?

Lea and Young used the concept of relative deprivation to explain when people are most likely to offend. When is this?

According to Lea and Young, crime can also be caused by a sense of marginalisation. How do some groups deal with their relative deprivation and marginalisation?

Despite the above sociologists' best efforts, which two sociologists argue that there is no straightforward statistical relationship between crime and material factors?

What do Winlow and Hall point out when arguing that no evidence links crime to material inequality?

An alternative explanation for crime argues that criminal behaviour is strongly influenced by cultural factors (rather than material factors). Which sociologists provide evidence in favour of this?

Walter Miller claimed that the lower classes in America developed a distinctive culture which was passed from generation to generation. How did this culture begin, and what did it develop into?

Miller states that this culture has a number of focal points. What three examples did he give?

Toughness and smartness brings status in working-class culture, while excitement involves a search for thrills as a response to the monotony of daily life. However, how are these focal concerns sometimes harmful?

Another cultural view of lower-class crime is the underclass theory. Who developed this?

According to Murray, what have the underclass developed a culture of?

Murray does not believe that poverty is the cause of crime. Rather, he believes that the over-generous welfare state is to blame. What is his solution?

However, cultural theories for working-class crime are rather unconvincing. Why do Hall and Winlow criticise Miller's work?

Why can Murray's theory be criticised?

Why can Murray's solution be criticised?

An alternative explanation for the relatively high conviction and imprisonment rates for lower social classes is in relation to criminalisation. What does this approach argue?

In his study of two American gangs, one consisting of middle-class boys and the other of working-class boys, which sociologist found that the working-class boys were more likely to be negatively labelled due to pre-existing stereotypes?

What impact did these negative labels have on the boys?

Which two sociologists argue that similar processes occur in our own society?

While people from higher classes do offend, their offending often go undetected. Why?

Marxist and critical criminologists argue that it is no accident that the crimes of the powerful go 'undetected', however. Rather, the offenders are simply protected by what?

Which two sociologists argue that because corporations have "enormous economic, political and social power", they are largely exempt from prosecution?

Why are governments very reluctant to convict and imprison senior executives when they are detected?

It can be concluded that a full understanding of the relationship between class and crime can only be achieved by looking at which two factors?