How does white-collar crime differ from corporate crime?

White-collar crime is committed by people in middle-class jobs for their own gain, such as fiddling expenses. Corporate crime is committed by or for a company, such as breaking health and safety laws.

How do Marxists explain crime?

Marxists argue that capitalism encourages greed and competition, producing crime at every level of society. The law is enforced more harshly against the working class than against the powerful.

What do official statistics show about gender and crime?

Men commit far more recorded crime than women, especially violent crime. Women made up about 4% of the prison population in England and Wales in 2023 (Ministry of Justice).

What is the chivalry thesis?

The chivalry thesis claims that male police officers and judges treat women offenders more leniently than men. Otto Pollak proposed the chivalry thesis in 1950.

Why do some feminists reject the chivalry thesis?

Heidensohn argued that women who break gender norms are punished for double deviance, as offenders and as bad women. Courts may judge a woman's family life and sexual behaviour as well as her offence.

AQA GCSE Sociology 8192

The Sociological Approach

Topic overview Key sociological concepts Sociological perspectives: consensus and conflict Durkheim, Marx and Weber How sociological knowledge develops

Families

Topic overview Functions of families Family forms and diversity Conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour Changing relationships within families Criticisms of families Divorce in Britain since 1945

Education

Topic overview Roles and functions of education Education, capitalism and the correspondence principle Class and gender differences in achievement Ethnicity, parental choice and school markets Processes within schools

Crime and Deviance

Topic overview Social construction of crime and deviance Formal and informal social control Explanations of criminal behaviour Patterns of crime and public debates Crime statistics and the dark figure

Social Stratification

Topic overview Functionalist theory of stratification Marx, Weber and socio-economic class Factors affecting life chances Poverty as a social issue Forms of power and authority Power relationships

Research Methods

Topic overview Research design, hypotheses and data analysis Sampling methods Questionnaires and interviews Observation and mixed methods Types of data and official statistics Reliability, validity, ethics and practical issues

Crime and Deviance

Patterns of crime and public debates

3 things to know
Paper 2

Overview

Crime by class, gender, ethnicity and age, white-collar and corporate crime, the chivalry thesis, the Macpherson Report, sentencing, young offenders, prisons and media coverage of crime.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is the link between social class, poverty and crime?

Key term

Why is violent crime a subject of public debate?

Key term

What is the debate over sentencing?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is the link between social class, poverty and crime?
Model answer
Official statistics show that prisoners come disproportionately from poor, working-class backgrounds. Some sociologists link this to poverty and relative deprivation. Others argue that poor areas are simply policed more heavily.
2
How does white-collar crime differ from corporate crime?
Model answer
White-collar crime is committed by people in middle-class jobs for their own gain, such as fiddling expenses. Corporate crime is committed by or for a company, such as breaking health and safety laws.
3
How do Marxists explain crime?
Model answer
Marxists argue that capitalism encourages greed and competition, producing crime at every level of society. The law is enforced more harshly against the working class than against the powerful.
4
What do official statistics show about gender and crime?
Model answer
Men commit far more recorded crime than women, especially violent crime. Women made up about 4% of the prison population in England and Wales in 2023 (Ministry of Justice).
5
What is the chivalry thesis?
Model answer
The chivalry thesis claims that male police officers and judges treat women offenders more leniently than men. Otto Pollak proposed the chivalry thesis in 1950.
6
Why do some feminists reject the chivalry thesis?
Model answer
Heidensohn argued that women who break gender norms are punished for double deviance, as offenders and as bad women. Courts may judge a woman's family life and sexual behaviour as well as her offence.

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