Crime and deviance - Class

Sociology Research on crime and deviance

Crime and class

Are there differences in prosecution rates?

The volume of crime

·         Between 1971 and 1993 there was a dramatic rise in the volume of recorded crime in the UK

·         Since 1993, the crime rates has significantly fallen, despite the fact that the general public, encouraged by the media, believe it to be rising

·         Recorded crime in the England and Wales continued to fall in the 12 months to September 2000 although there was an 8% rise in violent crime- which now makes up 13% of all crime

·         Particular, street muggings (robbery) rose by 21% and violence against the person by 7%

The social distribution of crime by social class

·         Examination of the employment status of convicted offenders suggests that over 80%  are from the manual classes

·         Hagell and Newburn’s study of persistent young offenders found that only 8% are from middle class backgrounds

·         Middle class offenders tend to be associated with white collar crime, fraud and tax evasion

·         Working class offenders are mainly found guilty of burglary and street crime

Sociology – Crime and class

What are the theoretical views about why these different patterns exist?

Functionalist Perspective:

Deviance and the working class – Sociologist Merton deals with the different types of deviance, with type being awarded according to class positions. He found that the lower class are most likely to ‘Innovate’. Lacking the accepted norms of success, they operate using new set, which they have adapted in order to realise their goals. In short, they steal, lie and cheat their way through financial success, as they won’t reach to the top through legitimate route.

The lower middle Class – The lower middle class is the most likely to produce the ‘ritualist’ deviant. This is the person who has given up their pretensions to success and unable to drop their socialisation. They therefore, go through the motions, no longer expecting success, conforming to failure.

Marxist Perspective:

Sociologists argue that the capitalist society is characterised by class inequality. The theory suggested that working class people choose to commit crime because, of their experience of the injustices of capitalism. Working class crime therefore, is an attempt to alter capitalism. For example, crimes against property such as theft and burglary are aimed at the redistribution of wealth, whilst vandalism is a symbolic attack on capitalisms obsession with property.