Social Class and Crime

Crime

Social Class and Crime

Some useful information on social class and crime can be found in this blog article from sociologist Dr Sandra Trappen.

Although written in the context of the US, the key points do apply to the UK. Students could use this article to create their own Cornell notes to bring to class, identifying key terms and questions they have:

Discover More Social class divisions in the United States

As an alternative, or as a class starter activity, this short clip could be shared

Discover More Class, Family and Crime

which explores a range of variables in relation to participation in crime. Key concepts covered in the video include

Social class and peer group
Family stability/single parent families
Career structure
Present and future orientations
Leisure
Social and cultural capital

Students could identify these as possible factors within the video, before using resources available to research any evidence for the relevance of the factor in relation to criminal and/or deviant activity. Finally, they could look at crime rates in their own locality

Discover More The national website for policing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

to look at the data available and police performance in their area. This data could be analysed using what they have learned about social class and crime so far.

More Resources

More Resources from Discover Sociology

Cross-Cultural Examples

Students can read about the issues in different countries, creating their own overview, before movin..