Inequalities Between Social Classes

Most people, when they hear the word “crime,” think about street crime or violent crime such as murder, rape, theft, or drugs. However, there is another type of crime that has cost people their life savings, investors’ billions of dollars, and has had significant impacts of multiple lives; it is called white collar crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines white collar crime as

‘Using material from item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of Marxist approach to an understanding of crime and deviance’ (21 marks)

One way in which Marxism is a useful theory for explaining the causes of crime is the concept of capitalism, criminogenic capitalism. Criminogenic capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working class- using them for a means to an end. Crime is not confined to the working class, greed and self interest cause white collar crimes such as tax evasion and

The treatment of Indians by the French in Canada and English in Massachusetts was dramatic. The French had proceeded there way to North America and arrived in the 1500’s and was interested in establishing trading posts. There were settlements on St. Lawrence River that came to the point as a serving (as a base from which to invade and conquer the kingdom of Saguenay). The trade between the French and Indians was a development from these enterprises in trading military forts. There were many items that were traded such as beaver pelts, furs, textile, and metal that had attractions for both trading partners. The indigenous they interact with Huron in British because French settlements aren’t big. The hurons get upset with French because Jesuits try to convert them to Catholicism. The Hurons initially tolerate these conversions efforts, but grow to resent them. The hurons are exposed to disease that kills many of them. The French don’t provide adequate protection against the Iroquois. Among the disease victims were chefs, clan leaders, wise elders, and skilled craftspeople.” The Iroquois attack the Hurons and destroy their capital. The English desire for land created an antagonistic relationship with Wampanoag. The Puritans and the religious motivations for Plymouth are important. The interaction with Wampanoag the English wanted power and land. The 1621 treaty with the Wampanoag shows this desire for both. The Wampanoag see the British as

Odysseus, sweat dripping down his face, musters up all of his courage and attacks the wild giant Polyphemus with his newly fashioned spear blinding the foe and allowing for a narrow escape. Throughout the book The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus faces mythical enemies and nearly impossible odds. Each encounter requires more courage and mental strength in order to complete his journey home to Ithaca. It requires 10 years for Odysseus to make his journey home and the only reason he is able to persist through each hardship is his courage. It allows him to endure the worst but still be able to power through. The article “Courage vs. Boldness: How to live with Spartan Bravery” by Brett McKay describes the pros and cons of courage and boldness. In considering the events of The Odyssey, as well as the definition of courage laid out in McKay’s article, it is clear that Odysseus is a character who demonstrates more courage than boldness because he has the endurance to continually fight to get home, his cunningness that allows him to defeat his enemies with slim odds, and his inability to accept defeat.

White-collar crime generally refers to financially motivated nonviolent crimes committed by upper class individuals. It is a crime committed in the course of legitimate employment involving the abuse of an occupational role, such as fraud and bribery. Although most occupational crime is prohibited under the Criminal Code, much of it often goes undetected due to underreporting. Therefore, Bill C-21 was proposed to punish white-collar criminals more severely than before. Durkheim would argue that increasing the severity of sentences reinforces social solidarity. A Marxist would maintain that although white-collar crime is given much more attention than recent decades, white-collar criminals can typically escape the prosecution, thus proving that they can be above the law. Finally, a feminist would argue that Bill C-21 intends to punish women and men equally; however this legislation has a greater effect on men than women.

According to Copes & Vieraits(2009), White collar criminals of the corporate world are perpetrators. They are respectable and elite members of society who commit “illegal and harmful crimes.” This is motivated by the goal of economic gain and occupational success. While committing crimes, they use their position to fraudulently obtain money and evade prosecution.

Shapiro (1990.). This in turn created debates proposing that due to this lack of range the definition focused solely on the offender in terms of status and the location of the workplace rather than the offense. Thus the concept did not correctly reflect the behaviours that needed to be addressed (edelhertz 1990). This reinforces the need for ambiguity as opposed to a specific definition because one of the main difficulties with narrowing down a definition is that it is assumed only a person of high social status will commit white collar crime. However A study of white collar crime offenders convicted in seven federal districts between 1976 and 1978, found that most offenses described as white-collar were “committed by those who fall in the middle classes of society” (Weisburd, Chayet, & Waring, 1990, p. 353).

Marxist claim that the bourgeoisie choose what they consider is criminal and deviant behaviour within society. They say the proletariat are the main culprits of the criminal behaviour, and they and those who are in a lower class are forced into committing crimes to survive as there is no other option for them. The main reason for the high crime rate is due to how the system works. White collar crimes seem to usually be ignored while lesser crimes such as burglary, vandalism and every day street crime tend to be highlighted more within the public eye and seen as much worse. This may well be because the ruling class have the funds to provide good lawyers and the power to cover their crimes up. Because the working class are policed heavier, as they are expected to break the law more, they are more likely to be caught for any offences. Marxists value the norms and values of society believing that if you do not conform and obey the rules you should be punished. This is why schools, religion and the justice system (prison) are used to encourage people to conform to what society expects of them.

The term white collar crime was first introduced by Edwin Sutherland, a criminologist and sociologist, in 1939. The criminologist defined the term as offenses committed by individuals of respectability and high social status while in their different occupations. He also included criminal offenses carried out by corporations and other lawful organizations in the description. The criminologists' perspective of white collar crime was fueled by the perception that criminology had wrongly focused on the social and economic factors of crime. Therefore, one of the major theories behind white collar crime is that criminal activities are carried out at all levels in the society and by people of broadly divergent socio-economic backgrounds.

Edward H. Sutherland coined white-collar crime in 1939. To which he defined it as a “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” (Payne, 2013). He had multiple different definitions of what white-collar crime was. Sutherland had three significant classifications of who committed white-collar crimes, as well as what type o white-collar crimes they committed. He stated that white-collar crimes were committed by people that were very respected. These individuals that are committing these crimes typically commit these crimes while they're executing the duties of their jobs and their jobs and how they perform their job roles help to assist them in the execution of their criminal activities. Finally, the jobs that they are in are typically jobs that others view/see as very professional/legitimate occupations.

According to the FBI, the term white-collar crimes is “now synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. These crimes are typically characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence. The motivation behind these crimes is financial. Typically these crimes try to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage.  Numerous white-collar crimes are committed by people holding top positions in the corporate and in the political world. Many times status and money has kept these criminals

The media portrays crime as something the general public should be worried about. When the media portrays crime they focus on violent acts of crime. However, there are more harmful ways that people are breaking the law without even touching anyone. White collar crimes are crimes that are financially motivated and are committed by people who already possess money and, in most cases, power. The type of people who commit white collar crimes are not college students or gang affiliated minorities, but business professionals and people who hold significant political power. We rarely see white collar crime in the news because these professionals have access to concealment and bail money. White collar crimes are legitimate crimes and can possibly be worse than violent crimes done in the streets.

Assess the contribution of the Marxist theory to the sociological understanding of crime and deviance.

Recently the issue of white-collar crime has gained a lot of attention and it is quite common to notice such cases in any part of the world. The term itself is rather old as it was coined by Edwin Sunderland in 1939 and white-collar crime is defined as crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation (Payne, 2013). The