Here is my exam on crime and poverty and how they directly affect each other

1. Social Inequality – Crime and poverty
Elizabeth Baillie

2.  Crime and poverty is a social issue because;
 ½ Households below the median
 The rise in foodbanks
 The prisons are struggling to accommodate
 Burglary and theft is the most common crime of dishonesty
 Budget cuts, lack of jobs, cost of living unequal to wage, lack of opportunity.
 Poorer twice as likely to be affected by crime. (Poverty.org.uk, police and home
office statistics, 2010/11)
 Young households
 Lone Parents
 Unemployed
 Under the median household income.
 Giving how recent the statistics are, it’s definitely a contemporary issue.
 Source, Guy Palmer. Date visited 12/02/2017
Is crime and poverty a
contemporary issue? (Source 1)

3. Is crime and poverty a
contemporary issue? (Source 2)
 Scottish Justice system is harder on poorer
families than wealthier ones. (source: BBC
News Scotland, published 13/12/15)
 Poorer twice as likely to face punishment
 Being poor is an exacerbating factor
 It’s within the past 2 years, so therefor
contemporary.

4.  Society is based on a conflict structure
 The ruling class hold power over the working class
 The ruling live above the median.
 The poor live below the median.
 The ruling gain their profit by exploitation
 The poor need to work to live
 The ruling live to work (or claim to anyway!)
 The richer can therefor afford a better legal position
 White collar crime (e.g Embezzlement) will more likely be swept under the carpet
 Blue collar crime made an example of
 Lesser experienced lawyers, legal aid, likelihood of re-offending high, social class
disdain.
 Judges belong to the ruling class
 Show more favouritsim to their own class, lower classes less favouritism/leniency.
The Marxist approach to crime
and poverty.

5.  Marxism looks at the inequalities between large groups of
people.
 Some classical Marxists believe that Capitalism in itself is a
crime and also is the root cause of crime.
 Capitalism is the economic and political structure in which
the country is built and ran by companies that are nor
publicly owned.
 It states capitalism lives off the exploitation of the majority
‘working’ (proletariat) by the minority ‘ruling’ (Bougoursie)
 That it creates a competitive world where greed and
corruption is rife.
 As a result, workers are paid less for their effort so the
capitalist can have more money, this then is a driving factor
towards crime, caused by poverty.
The Marxist approach to crime
and poverty

6.  Social Interactionism Theory is a theory
based on social processes.
 It is responsible for the judgments we
make of people based on ‘clues’ such as
dress, behavior, speech, religion.
 It also creates the roles we expect from
people based on these clues. E.g, A
young woman with a pram is likely be a
mother to the child.
 Edwin H Sutherland argued that
criminal behavior learned by interacting
with friends and family. *Ref at end.
 No one knows how to commit a
crime until they are shown and
taught the reasons and
rationalizations to justify the crime.
(e.g We’re poor, we need to eat!)
The social interactionism
approach to crime and poverty.
(Picture credit: Google)
• So for a person in a deprived area
committing a crime, the end must
justify the means. If they are poor, they
are more likely to commit a crime or
perceived to be the perp of a crime,
based on social circumstance and how
society views them. (E.g drug- addicts
are all thieves.)
• Their children therefor grow up around
criminality and perceive it as a way of
life and rationalized it as ‘It’s all they
know’.
• So for a parent dealing drugs or
stealing to make a profit to provide for
their family, the children will grow up
to believe that’s okay behavior.
• They will then likely get involved in
crime themselves to ‘impress’ their
parents and live up to what they
perceive to be expected of them.

7.  One difference; Marxism looks at inequalities
between groups of people
 Social Interactionism looks at inequalities between
people
 Similarity; Highlights the difference between social
and coporate heirarchy
 Cost of living goes up, while wages come down,
creating poverty
 This paves the way to an attraction to crime
 Sometimes used as a means to an end.
 Similarity; both look at people and where they stand
in an unequal society and the reasons for it.
Similarities and differences between Marxism
and Social Interactionalism in regards to crime
and poverty.

8.  Using data from Edinburgh youth and transitions
programme, McAra and Mcvie found that;
 Poverty is a strong driver in youth offending (violent crime)
 Strong likelihood of engaging in violent crime at age 15
 Family circumstances a strong factor in violent crime;
unemployment, high levels of community deprivation, family
attachment.
 Found that the reason crime and poverty connect is;
 A touchstone to developing identity (gangster, N.E.D,)
 Is a way of maintaining respect and empowerment amongst
peers.
 Therefor poverty and crime is socially connected;
 Not only by desireable actions
 But actions of need as well.
The reproduction of povertyreport
Lesley McAra, Susan McVie

9.  Edwin H Sutherland reference;
 Shmitz. A. “Social Problems, Continuity and
change.” Saylor Academy, 2012.
 Date of lookup - 08/03/2017
 Source: Github
Sources