Class, Race, Ethnicity and Crime

Question 1

What is meant by “class is a social construct”?

Answer 1

Class doesn’t exist in nature but is a real concept created and maintained by society

Question 2

What 4 features of social class stratification did Giddens and Sutton suggest?

Answer 2

1. Fluidity (can change over time/space)
2. Partially achieved status
3. Economically based
4. Large scale and impersonal

Question 3

What do self-report studies show about class and crime?

Answer 3

Class differences in crime are smaller than in official criminal justice outcomes.

Question 4

Give 3 examples of class bias in criminal justice.

Answer 4

Benefit fraud heavily prosecuted; tax fraud rarely is.
HMRC rarely prosecutes tax evasion.
Poorer people more likely to be arrested, searched, and imprisoned.

Question 5

What did the Prison Reform Trust (2024) find?

Answer 5

Similar results to MoJ. E.g., 31% of female and 24% of male prisoners were in care vs only 2% of the general population.

Question 6

What are common childhood experiences of prisoners according to the MoJ 2012)?

Answer 6

24% had been in care
29% experienced abuse; 41% witnessed violence
37% had family with criminal convictions
18% had alcohol problems in the family
63% had been suspended from school; 42% expelled

Question 7

Which groups and communities are more likely to experience serious crimes?

Answer 7

Poorer households (e.g., burglary, mugging, domestic violence) in deprived neighborhoods

Question 8

How can poverty amplify victimisation?

Answer 8

Theft of essentials (e.g., a bike) can prevent work access.
Repairs after crime may lead to debt.
Inability to afford recovery time increases harm.

Question 9

Who typically commits white-collar crime?

Answer 9

Middle-aged, white, middle-class men with strong community ties (Klenowski & Dodson, 2016).

Question 10

Why is white-collar crime under-addressed?

Answer 10

Complex and concealed nature
Victims often unaware
Usually handled outside CJS, with lighter sentences or fines
Labeled as “non-criminal”

Question 11

How does the penal system reflect class inequality?

Answer 11

Focuses on crimes of the powerless
Harsher treatment of the poor
Imprisonment leads to job loss, deepening inequality

Question 12

What does Scott (2015) say about criminalisation and poverty?

Answer 12

It hides the harm of poverty (“smokescreen”)
The poor are viewed with “categorical suspicion”—judged based on group identity, not actions

Question 13

How are race and ethnicity generally defined in sociology?

Answer 13

Race refers to physical characteristics (e.g., skin colour, hair type), while ethnicity refers to cultural features (e.g., traditions, language).
both are socially constructed

Question 14

What is racialisation according to Haslanger (2000)?

Answer 14

A group is racialised when socially positioned as subordinate or privileged based on imagined or perceived bodily features linked to geographic ancestry.

Question 15

What are the key features of an ethnic group according to Fearon (2003)?

Answer 15

Descent-based membership, group consciousness, shared culture, valued traditions, connection to a homeland, and a factual shared history.

Question 16

What did self-report studies show about racial differences in offending?

Answer 16

White and Black groups show similar offending patterns.

Question 17

What did the Lammy Review 2017 discover about racially minoritisation in the uk?

Answer 17

1. 12% of the population are racially minoritised , but 25% of adult prisoners and 40% of young prisoners.
2. Black youths are 9 times more likely to be in custody compared to white youths
3. Black males are 3x more likely to be arrested and 4.5x more likely to be stopped and searched compared to white males

Question 18

Who studied the effectiveness of stop and search techniques?

Answer 18

Tiratelli

Question 19

Does stop and search deter crime?

Answer 19

It may affect drug crime slightly, but has limited overall deterrence, especially for violent/property crimes.

Question 20

What are the broader uses of stop and search, according to Tiratelli et al.?

Answer 20

It’s a tool of order maintenance and control, often used disproportionately on marginalised groups.

Question 21

What patterns exist in CJS treatment of racially minoritised groups?

Answer 21

Overrepresentation at every stage (arrest to sentencing), lower trust in police, and compounded impact of class.

Question 22

What challenges do minoritised prisoners report more often?.

Answer 22

Use of force, segregation, discrimination, worse staff relationships, fewer opportunities

Question 23

How did Black prisoners describe their treatment?

Answer 23

As dehumanising, racist, and embedded in institutional culture.

Question 24

What is institutional racism according to Macpherson (1999)?

Answer 24

A collective failure to provide fair service due to colour or culture, seen in unwitting prejudice and racist stereotyping.

Question 25

What is intersectionality?

Answer 25

Intersectionality is a way of understanding how different aspects of a person’s identity—such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, age, and more—interact with one another to shape their life experiences

Question 26

What is Crenshaw’s (1989) basement analogy?

Answer 26

the metaphor of a “basement” where those with the greatest disadvantages (e.g. Black women, working-class migrants) are often overlooked by reforms that only help those with single-axis disadvantage (e.g. race or gender, but not both).

Question 27

What does Parmer suggest?

Answer 27

defines intersectionality as the idea that individuals possess multiple, intersecting social identities, which affect their position within structures of inequality.

Question 28

How does intersectionality relate to the CJS?

Answer 28

intersectionality highlights that racial discrimination can combine with other disadvantages like class, age, or gender. e.g. A Black working-class young man might face not only racial profiling but also class-based prejudice and age-based suspicion