social class and crime

Question 1

Q: What is white-collar crime? (Functionalist/Sutherland)

Answer 1

Sutherland (1949) defined white-collar crime as crimes committed by people of high status in the course of their occupation — e.g. fraud, bribery, tax evasion — showing crime is not just a working-class issue.

Question 2

What is corporate crime? (Marxism)

Answer 2

Corporate crime involves illegal acts by companies or their representatives to increase profits — e.g. environmental pollution, false advertising, worker exploitation.

Question 3

What is occupational crime? (Interactionism/Marxism)

Answer 3

A: Crime committed by an individual at work for personal gain — e.g. stealing company resources, insider trading. This differs from corporate crime, which benefits the company.

Question 4

Q: What is state crime?

Answer 4

A: State crime refers to illegal or deviant acts committed by or on behalf of the state — includes war crimes, torture, genocide, political repression.