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Example research essay topic: Is There A Criminal Underclass In American Society - 1,276 words

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... and aggressive than those with other builds. This may be true, but a criminal is more likely to possess these characteristics because a small weak man would undoubtedly make a very poor criminal. Strength is something that is of benefit when you are to undertake the role of criminal, and thus opens the criminal arena to the mesomorph. Similarly, any bizarre appearance may well exclude the majority from leading a normal life.

We must also not forget that many crimes for example that committed by computer systems hackers does not require a strong outward appearance. Taylor, Walton and Young also provided an alternative explanation for the link between the mesomorph and delinquency, they suggest It may well be that the lower working-class children, who are more likely to be found in the criminal statistics, are also, by virtue of diet, continual manual labor, physical fitness and strength, more likely to be mesomorphic. It may well be that physiological factors predispose a person to some criminal activities but to be of sole cause is an absurd notion. Murray's essays suggest that criminality is an important trait of the underclass and that the underclass exist, to a large extent, as a result of their own behavior which differs in terms of other poor people with regard to parenting, labor market behavior and attitudes to crime. His findings suggest within this underclass crime is considered the norm to a degree and people have actually learnt these norms along with those of illegitimacy and dependency and that this subculture is like a plague, spreading through our social fabric. Does this point to a distinct group of criminals, a criminal underclass or is Considering the growth in inequalities regarding the distribution of wealth within our society we can see that while our overall economic position as a society has improved since the late 1960 s the distribution of wealth has been such as to make the poorest sections of society relatively poorer.

In fact between 1979 - 93 the poorest 25 % of the population had incomes frozen relative to inflation and in effect became no better off. At the same time the richest 10 % saw there incomes rise by nearly 60 % (Guardian, 08 / 12 / 1994). At the same time it is clear that crime, particularly violent crime, is largely committed by young working class males as reported by the Home Office. There is most certainly a link with poverty and crime here but let us also consider the social context that young working class males find themselves in with reference to Hirschi. Control Theory suggests that society and its institutions restrain people from committing criminal activity for the most part and that this conformity is a result of social ties being strong.

When these social ties are weakened then the individual becomes less attached and involved in the community and can progress to a point were he will justify to himself that committing a criminal offence is acceptable behavior. These social bonds and attachments have broken down as a result of social change since the 1960 s as society has become marginalized. The work of sociologists from the Chicago school helps to explain some of this social change. If we consider how cities are structured, from the centre outwards, in circular shaped zones, then the area just outside the central business district is often where much of the cheapest housing in cities is to be found. Those that inhabit these areas are usually poor, often immigrants and partake in a wide range of occupations. In this area social norms and rules which influence the way people behave are weak in the sense that there isnt a specific set of values because people are from different backgrounds, occupations and are coming and going fairly regularly.

As a result of this social disorganization cultural values have developed which allow certain forms of crime as the cultural norm. These norms are then transmitted from one generation to the next and so a degree of criminality is socialized into members of this section of society. For example May (1954) studied the area around the university of Liverpool and found that shoplifting, petty theft and vandalism were all accepted as normal and most of the young males in this area were committing such crimes to some degree. People are still able to make there own choices about how they behave however, and although single parent families, poverty and poor housing has contributed to a weakening of social bonds there are still other factors almost ensuring a criminal element within present day society.

In capitalist societies working hard to enjoy the good things in life benefits all society; however, for those who are bombarded by advertising day in, day out, and who do not have the skill or the means to achieve success, these people will still have the desire to achieve it and will thus, take any action to gain this perceived success (e. g. criminal activity). In addition to this Cohen discovered that marginalized people would commit criminal acts for other reasons apart from material gain. Where normal success is perceived as impossible to achieve, it leads to something Cohen refers to as status frustration where acceptable goals are rejected and success reinterpreted to include acts of theft, vandalism. Thus, a deviant sub-culture is formed.

Within this subculture committing these acts would allow the individual to gain status, importance and feel part of something. Coward and Online add to this by contending that, in some cases, even access to the sub-culture is denied and these individuals fall into the trap of a retreats subculture of drugs, violence, and prostitution as they are unable to gain status through legitimate or illegitimate means. Matza criticized this idea however as it assumed the peer group had ultimate influence over the individual. Matza envisaged that the individual would still have to come up with neutralization techniques allowing denial of the crime in ones own mind. Becker focuses on societies creation of deviance through rules and laws, the subsequent enforcement creates a label for the perceived deviant and a suitable label attached, criminal, stupid etc.

The labeling of an individual leads to the judgment of his actions through the assigned label, leading to a reinforcement of the label. The criminal would seek out others who would not judge him to be anything other than normal; these would undoubtedly be persons of the same affliction. Income opportunities within the group would likely be illegal, arrest would eventually follow and the label reinforced. In conclusion it seems absurd to say that a criminal underclass exists within present day British society. In deed certain environments, in the social sense, contribute significantly to causing crime but this is down to political, sociological and economic factors and is far from being linked to any kind of biological causes. Indeed the very notion of crime is a sociological concept and is only deviance taken to a point where societies rules are broken.

CONCLUSION Murray, Lobrosso suggest that a criminal underclass exist with a different set of values and possibly biological makeup. It is evident that some sections of society commit crimes and the reasons they commit these crimes can be similar but this is because they are put under similar circumstances. Inequalities, Status Frustration, Relative deprivation as a result of societies growing inequalities. They are politically, economically and socially marginalized. Dont all have the same attitude to crime in the sense that they are a dependency culture, lazy etc see it as the best way out. They have similar social status so they go for a similar solution eg.

Crime


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