Lecture 8- Crime, Power and Inequalities
What do we mean by ‘inequalities’?
Differences between individuals and groups in a society:
Health and wellbeing
Income and wealth
Opportunity (education and employment)
These differences intersect with other inequalities in relation to:
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Inequalities in health
This graph shows the
predictions of life expectancy
based on parent’s jobs,
however, this may change
during the course of a person’s
life: the parental job status
could change and it is more
than just job status that affects
life expectancy- income levels,
housing, access to healthcare
Inequalities of opportunities
Department for education and skills
(2002)
The same group of young people were
followed up until the age of 19
There are large differences between
social classes and the ability for
children to obtain GCSEs
, The Spirit Level Theory (Wilkinson and Picket 2009)
The Spirit Level Theory states problems with things such as drugs, crime, mental
health issues and low levels of happiness occur in countries which have bigger gaps
between the rich and the poor
It states the capitalism has created this issue and a resolution to it would be to made
incomes closer to eachother
The UK have high levels of disparity between the rich and the poor but have very low
homicide rates
The Moral Statisticians
Guerry and Quetelet began mapping crime in France in the early 19 th century. They found
that:
The poor, uneducated and unemployed were more likely to commit crime
They were more likely to commit crimes in wealthier areas rather than their own
due to the opportunity effect
Henry Mayhew (1849) then began mapping crime in the UK, dividing up the country using
the county boarders. He focused his work mainly in London and found that the offenders
tended to live in the London slums, but commit their crimes just outside the slums in the
richer areas- again showing the opportunity effect.
Willem Bonger (1916)
Marxist analysis
Bonger claims that crime is caused by capitalism as it encourages materialism and greed
within people. The selfish nature of those at the top causes periodic hardship and poverty
for those at the bottom which creates a sense of frustration and injustice for the working
class which leads to offending behaviour.
Robert Merton (1938) Strain Theory
This theory was written in the context of the ‘American Dream’ which forms the idea that
anyone can succeed and achieve their dreams, however, this has detrimental effect for
those who do not have the resources to achieve this. Anomie is caused by oppression and
not being able to achieve their goals. It is not poverty itself, but the frustration of not being
able to achieve the common goal.
Conformity- people who conform to society normally
Retreatism- very rare- people completely retreat from society and do not conform to
the typical goals and aspirations of society
Innovation, Ritualism and Rebellion- referring to the different ways in which people
turn to crime in order to achieve their goals
Jock Young (1973)- All about the barriers which people face when they are trying to push
away crime.
Bulimic society- massive cultural inclusion in the idea that people should worship money
and success but people are systematically excluded from achieving this
Hirschi (1969) Control Theory
Not why do people commit crime, but why don’t people commit crime?
What do we mean by ‘inequalities’?
Differences between individuals and groups in a society:
Health and wellbeing
Income and wealth
Opportunity (education and employment)
These differences intersect with other inequalities in relation to:
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Inequalities in health
This graph shows the
predictions of life expectancy
based on parent’s jobs,
however, this may change
during the course of a person’s
life: the parental job status
could change and it is more
than just job status that affects
life expectancy- income levels,
housing, access to healthcare
Inequalities of opportunities
Department for education and skills
(2002)
The same group of young people were
followed up until the age of 19
There are large differences between
social classes and the ability for
children to obtain GCSEs
, The Spirit Level Theory (Wilkinson and Picket 2009)
The Spirit Level Theory states problems with things such as drugs, crime, mental
health issues and low levels of happiness occur in countries which have bigger gaps
between the rich and the poor
It states the capitalism has created this issue and a resolution to it would be to made
incomes closer to eachother
The UK have high levels of disparity between the rich and the poor but have very low
homicide rates
The Moral Statisticians
Guerry and Quetelet began mapping crime in France in the early 19 th century. They found
that:
The poor, uneducated and unemployed were more likely to commit crime
They were more likely to commit crimes in wealthier areas rather than their own
due to the opportunity effect
Henry Mayhew (1849) then began mapping crime in the UK, dividing up the country using
the county boarders. He focused his work mainly in London and found that the offenders
tended to live in the London slums, but commit their crimes just outside the slums in the
richer areas- again showing the opportunity effect.
Willem Bonger (1916)
Marxist analysis
Bonger claims that crime is caused by capitalism as it encourages materialism and greed
within people. The selfish nature of those at the top causes periodic hardship and poverty
for those at the bottom which creates a sense of frustration and injustice for the working
class which leads to offending behaviour.
Robert Merton (1938) Strain Theory
This theory was written in the context of the ‘American Dream’ which forms the idea that
anyone can succeed and achieve their dreams, however, this has detrimental effect for
those who do not have the resources to achieve this. Anomie is caused by oppression and
not being able to achieve their goals. It is not poverty itself, but the frustration of not being
able to achieve the common goal.
Conformity- people who conform to society normally
Retreatism- very rare- people completely retreat from society and do not conform to
the typical goals and aspirations of society
Innovation, Ritualism and Rebellion- referring to the different ways in which people
turn to crime in order to achieve their goals
Jock Young (1973)- All about the barriers which people face when they are trying to push
away crime.
Bulimic society- massive cultural inclusion in the idea that people should worship money
and success but people are systematically excluded from achieving this
Hirschi (1969) Control Theory
Not why do people commit crime, but why don’t people commit crime?
