The Relationship Between Social Class & Crime (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology): Revision Note

Official statistics on social class & crime

• Official statistics show that there is a relationship between people's criminal involvement and their social characteristics, such as:

  • social class

  • gender

  • ethnicity

  • age

• There are many more males, young people, black people and poorly educated people in prison compared to the general population (Maguire, 2007)

• Working-class people are over-represented in the prison population, showing a link between social class and crime

• According to the Trust for London (2023):

  • 40% more crimes were recorded in the most income-deprived areas in 2023, compared to the least income-deprived

  • violence, robbery and sexual offences are 2.1 times more prevalent in the most income-deprived areas compared to the least income-deprived

• The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW, 2021) reports that just by living in a more deprived area, you're over 40% more likely to experience crime

Explanations for the link between social class & crime

• Sociologists are interested in finding out how social class is linked to criminal and deviant behaviour

Merton's anomie theory

• From a functionalist perspective, Merton's anomie theory explains crime in the USA

  • Everyone strives for success (the ‘American Dream’), but not everyone has equal opportunities

  • Working-class people often face barriers to achieving success legitimately

  • This creates strain, or anomie, leading some to commit crime as an alternative route to success

• Crime can be explained as a response to inequality in opportunity and rewards

Working-class subcultures

• According to Cohen (1955), working-class boys often fail to meet middle-class expectations at school

• This leads to status frustration — a feeling of failure and resentment

• These students form delinquent subcultures or gangs where they gain status by breaking rules or committing crimes

• Crime becomes a collective response to social inequality

Bias in the criminal justice system (CJS)

• Agencies of social control — police, courts, and prisons — tend to target the working class, ethnic minorities, and young people

• Street crimes are seen as a priority, while corporate and white-collar crimes often go unnoticed or unpunished

• This bias helps maintain the illusion that crime is mainly a working-class problem

White-collar & corporate crime

• Working-class crime, e.g., burglary, is policed and punished more harshly than white-collar or corporate crime

  • This is known as the differential enforcement of law — laws are applied differently depending on social class

  • Crimes committed by the rich, e.g. fraud or environmental damage, are often ignored or treated leniently

White-collar crime

• White-collar crime refers to non-violent crimes committed by people in professional or high-status jobs, such as lawyers, accountants, or business managers

• It is usually committed at work and for personal or corporate gain

• Examples include:

  • fraud – false expense claims, insurance scams

  • tax evasion – hiding income to avoid paying tax

  • identity theft – using someone else’s identity for financial gain

• These crimes are often invisible, undetected, or unreported, as:

  • they have no obvious victim

  • they may be handled internally by organisations

  • victims may not realise a crime has taken place

Corporate crime

• Corporate crimes are committed by companies or their directors to increase profits or gain an advantage in the market

• They can include:

  • selling unsafe or mislabelled goods – e.g., the Horsemeat Scandal (2013), during which food producers sold horsemeat as beef

  • health and safety violations – e.g., the Alton Towers accident (2015), when unsafe ride procedures caused serious injuries

  • environmental crimes, such as air or water pollution – e.g., Thames Water and Southern Water were repeatedly fined (2021–2023) for dumping untreated sewage into rivers and seas

  • insider trading – e.g., in 2023 a former Goldman Sachs analyst was jailed for using confidential information about upcoming mergers to profit from share trades

  • tax evasion – e.g., global companies like Amazon, Starbucks, and Google have faced criticism for legally minimising UK tax payments through offshore loopholes

• Governments rarely prioritise corporate crime, and large firms can afford skilled lawyers to avoid prosecution

• This shows how the powerful often escape punishment, while working-class offenders are policed and punished more harshly

High-status criminals

• Corporate and white-collar offenders are often wealthy and powerful individuals

• They can conceal their crimes easily, work in networks, and afford expensive legal defence

• Even when caught, they often pay fines rather than face imprisonment

• Their high social status means they are less likely to be suspected or labelled as criminals

The dark figure of corporate crime

• The “dark figure” refers to unreported and unrecorded crime

• Much corporate and white-collar crime remains hidden because:

  • it is complex and hard to detect

  • victims may be unaware or powerless

  • companies prefer to protect their reputation rather than report wrongdoing

• This means official statistics underestimate the amount of crime committed by the powerful

Evaluation of the relationship between social class & crime

Strengths

• Official statistics and surveys consistently show a clear link between poverty, deprivation and crime, highlighting the impact of inequality

• Research on white-collar and corporate crime challenges the idea that crime is mainly a working-class issue

Criticisms

• Theories such as Merton’s strain theory and Cohen’s subcultural explanation can be too deterministic, assuming all working-class people under pressure will turn to crime — many do not

• Other factors like ethnicity, gender, and age also shape crime patterns, meaning social class alone cannot fully explain criminal behaviour