Social Class & Criminal Behaviour (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note
Exam code: 7192
Statistics on social class & crime
The government does not officially collect statistics on social class and crime, but there is evidence of a relationship between crime and class, gender, ethnicity, and age
Reiner (2007) and Young (2007) found that:
most prisoners convicted of street crimes come from semi-skilled and unskilled backgrounds
those convicted of white-collar and corporate crimes are typically middle-class
Prison population – inequalities
Gender: Disproportionately male, as only 4% of prisoners are women
Age: Prisoners are disproportionately young
Ethnicity: Black people are 12% of prisoners vs 4% of the population
Education: 71–73% assessed below GCSE level in Maths/English on entry (Ministry of Justice, 2024)
Class: Working-class people are over-represented in prison (Maguire, 2007)
Deprivation & crime
Trust for London (2023):
40% more crimes recorded in the most deprived areas vs the least deprived
Violence, robbery, and sexual offences are 2.1× more prevalent in deprived areas
CSEW (2025): People in more deprived areas had higher victimisation rates for:
theft
robbery
criminal damage
fraud
computer misuse
violence (with or without injury)
Crimes by social class
Working-class crimes:
Street crimes such as theft, burglary, robbery, assault, and vandalism
They are more visible, so more heavily policed
Middle-class crimes:
White-collar crimes are offences committed by individuals of high status in their jobs as managers, executives, or directors
E.g., fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion
Corporate crime are offences committed by businesses to maximise profit, often against employees, consumers, or the environment
E.g., price-fixing, selling unsafe products, false accounting, bribery, illegal disposal of toxic waste
White-collar and corporate crimes are under-reported, under-prosecuted, and legally defended with powerful lawyers
Explanations for the link between class & crime
Working-class crime | Middle- and upper-class crime |
|---|---|
Merton (1938) - Strain theory: Working-class people face blocked opportunities to achieve socially approved goals. Some turn to theft, burglary, or robbery as an alternative means of success. | Summer (2004) Strain theory: Success pressure and 'win at all costs' culture lead to innovation via fraud, embezzlement, false accounting, and insider trading to hit targets and bonuses and keep up with peers. |
Cohen (1955) – Status frustration: Working-class boys struggle to meet middle-class school expectations. They experience frustration and form delinquent subcultures to gain status through deviance (e.g., vandalism, gang crime). | Status frustration: Professional status anxiety occurs in workplaces. Deviant peer cultures normalise corner-cutting (e.g., mis-selling) to win promotion and gain status. |
Cloward and Ohlin (1960) – Subcultural theory: Different working-class groups have unequal access to the 'illegitimate opportunity structure'. This explains why some turn to utilitarian crime (theft), others to violence (gangs), and others to drug use. | Subcultural theory: Access to elite networks, specialist knowledge, and lax oversight creates opportunities for white-collar and corporate offences (e.g., price-fixing, insider information). |
Miller (1962) – Focal concerns: Working-class culture emphasises toughness, excitement, and street smarts. These values can lead to crime, e.g., fighting or joyriding, as part of proving masculinity. | Focal concerns: Risk-taking and dominance are viewed as 'entrepreneurial flair', leading to reckless trading, rule-bending, and toxic work cultures to display competitive masculinity. |
Gordon (1976) – Marxism: Criminogenic capitalism: Crime is a natural response to poverty and inequality in capitalist societies. Working-class crime is a rational way to survive or resist oppression. | Croall (2001) – Marxism: The powerful have greater opportunities to commit crime and to cover it up. Profit pressure encourages cost-cutting harms (e.g., environmental offences) framed as 'business decisions'. |
Marxism – Inequality and law enforcement: The criminal justice system targets working-class and visible 'street crimes' more aggressively. This over-policing helps maintain ruling-class power. | Tombs and Whyte (2003): Point out that corporate crimes cause widespread harm (e.g., unsafe working conditions, financial scandals), but governments often fail to regulate or prosecute them effectively. |
Taylor et al. (1975) – Neo-Marxism: The working class deliberately choose to commit crime as a political response to their perceived exploitation. Street crime is a political act aimed at redistributing wealth from rich to poor. | Box (1983) – Marxism: The crimes of the powerful (corporate fraud, tax evasion, insider trading) are more harmful to society than working-class street crimes but are often hidden or treated more leniently. |
Lea and Young (1984) – Left realists: Street offending is caused by relative deprivation (poverty) and marginalisation. | Lea and Young (1984) – Left realists: Relative deprivation at the top can fuel fraud and creative accounting to 'keep up' with peers. |
Messerschmidt (2000) – Hegemonic masculinity: working-class crime is encouraged by socialisation into hegemonic forms of masculinity. | Messerschmidt (2000) – Hegemonic masculinity: middle-class men display masculinity via high-risk deals, rule-bending, and bullying cultures. |
Murray (1984) – Right realism: The criminal 'underclass' and weak social controls are responsible for most street crime. | Pearce (2003): Low perceived risk and high reward mean that corporate crime benefits the ruling class, as it is rarely prosecuted. |
Becker (1963) – Labelling theory: The working class is unfairly targeted by the CJS. The police discriminate against them by patrolling working-class areas intensively, resulting in more working-class crime in the statistics. Labelling leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. | Labelling theory: Expensive lawyers, PR, and professional status reduce labelling and formal sanctions. Many criminal cases are handled quietly by regulators. |
Worked Example
Here is an example of a short-answer question on crime & deviance:
Outline three reasons for social class differences in patterns of offending.
[6 marks]
Model Answer:
Identify the first reason:
The working class are labelled as criminals [1 mark]
Develop the reason:
They give into the label, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy and commit crime [1 mark]
Identify the second reason:
Members of the working class may experience strain [1 mark]
Develop the reason:
They may innovate in response to blocked opportunities by offending [1 mark]
Identify the third reason:
Members of the working class could feel marginalised [1 mark]
Develop the reason:
They may commit non-utilitarian crime to vent their anger and frustration [1 mark]
Examiner Tips and Tricks
With low-tariff questions (e.g. 4- or 6-mark), avoid overwriting. E.g., you do not need to go into full detail on theories such as strain theory or relative deprivation.
Writing too much here wastes time and may leave you short on higher-tariff questions later in the paper. Keep your answers focused and concise.
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