In this essay, I will be discussing the question of what is the relationship between the phycology of crime and social classes. Blackburn 1993 defines crime as "acts attracting legal punishment, they are offences against the community”, so essentially any person can commit a crime. When looking at the theory of Marxism Karl Marx says that in society with have “bourgeoisie and proletariat” a higher class and a lower class so what is the relationship between social classes and crime and if there is any phycological evidence behind this? To answer this question, the topics I will be looking at are; Psychologically oriented explanations of criminal behavior, Socio- economic status, White Collar Crime; class and gender.
One of the main theories …show more content…
“Classes are constituted by the relationship of groupings of individuals to the ownership of private property in the means of production” (Giddens 1971). White Collar Crime and class, most people would assume that white collar crime is not a crime for the lower social classes and is committed by wealthy males rather than women or those of a lower social class. Crime rates show us that Criminal damage and arson crime rates in Leeds have a higher percentage in a working-class area than a lower social class area, for example the postcode ls157qj (working class) have a percentage rate of 16.7% whereas the post code ls71bq (lower social class) have only 2.9%. The crime rates for violence and sexual offences show a similar pattern to criminal damage and arson, the working class has a higher percentage. ls157qj (working class area) have 5.1% whereas ls71bq (lower social class area) has 1.3%. Walter and Bradley (2005) suggest that crimes that involve around theft, robbery and vehicle theft are more likely to be reported than sexual offences as people will claim insurance from theft or vehicle theft, so are crimes rates fully reliable?. Levi (1993) conducted that official government statistics do not …show more content…
“The relationship between the propertied and the laboring classes changed dramatically after the mid-sixteenth century” Lawson (1986). Sharpe (1982) identified that historically the lower class committed crime in order to eat and live, whereas upper class committed because of greed. Pearson (1987) found that drug offences occur in all three of the social classes; lower class, working class and the higher class. Levi (1993) found that white collar crime is shown very little in the media and receives little to none attention from the news, unlike crimes such as gang related crimes or knife crimes which are more than likely to be committed by lower social classes. Brodie et al (2000) found that low income and disadvantaged communities are more likely to high levels of youth, knife and gang crime. Hope and Shaw (1988) researched that 40% of crimes take place within a low income and disadvantaged communities, it also increases the chance of victims to be involved in Burglary, Theft, Car theft, Vandalism and gang crimes. August 2016 England riots showed “13% of those arrested were gang members and In terms of ethnicity, 42% of those charged were white, 46% black, 7% Asian and 5% were classified as "other".“The proportion of adults who are very worried about being the victim of crime is much lower than a decade ago: for burglary, 10%
One of the main theories …show more content…
“Classes are constituted by the relationship of groupings of individuals to the ownership of private property in the means of production” (Giddens 1971). White Collar Crime and class, most people would assume that white collar crime is not a crime for the lower social classes and is committed by wealthy males rather than women or those of a lower social class. Crime rates show us that Criminal damage and arson crime rates in Leeds have a higher percentage in a working-class area than a lower social class area, for example the postcode ls157qj (working class) have a percentage rate of 16.7% whereas the post code ls71bq (lower social class) have only 2.9%. The crime rates for violence and sexual offences show a similar pattern to criminal damage and arson, the working class has a higher percentage. ls157qj (working class area) have 5.1% whereas ls71bq (lower social class area) has 1.3%. Walter and Bradley (2005) suggest that crimes that involve around theft, robbery and vehicle theft are more likely to be reported than sexual offences as people will claim insurance from theft or vehicle theft, so are crimes rates fully reliable?. Levi (1993) conducted that official government statistics do not …show more content…
“The relationship between the propertied and the laboring classes changed dramatically after the mid-sixteenth century” Lawson (1986). Sharpe (1982) identified that historically the lower class committed crime in order to eat and live, whereas upper class committed because of greed. Pearson (1987) found that drug offences occur in all three of the social classes; lower class, working class and the higher class. Levi (1993) found that white collar crime is shown very little in the media and receives little to none attention from the news, unlike crimes such as gang related crimes or knife crimes which are more than likely to be committed by lower social classes. Brodie et al (2000) found that low income and disadvantaged communities are more likely to high levels of youth, knife and gang crime. Hope and Shaw (1988) researched that 40% of crimes take place within a low income and disadvantaged communities, it also increases the chance of victims to be involved in Burglary, Theft, Car theft, Vandalism and gang crimes. August 2016 England riots showed “13% of those arrested were gang members and In terms of ethnicity, 42% of those charged were white, 46% black, 7% Asian and 5% were classified as "other".“The proportion of adults who are very worried about being the victim of crime is much lower than a decade ago: for burglary, 10%