To what extent is social class relevant in relation to those who make Essay

To what extent is social class relevant in relation to those who make the law and those who break it - Essay Example There are four main a social classes, such as â€Å"upper class, middle class, working class and the lower class† (Murray, 1995). In order to discuss relation of a social class to lawbreakers, it is relevant to consider a a social class of Britain as the biggest class of lawbreakers. Law breakers in Britain are often accused of avoidance of tax payment, are undercharged in shops etc. A dishonest behavior was admitted by more than 50% of Great Britain inhabitants. A paradoxical behavior of British society is defined in the following terms: â€Å"While nine out of 10 people demand action against those committing these offences, the majority actually admit to committing one of them† (Carrabine&South, 2000). In America there is no strict and intense relation between representatives of different classes. Nevertheless, American constitution was developed in the eighteenth century, but in the modern time there is a lack of special social and economic rights (Carrabine&South, 2 000). A social class is more objective entity in relation to the society than race. A social class has been shaped under the influence of economic relations, symbolic systems and other external factors. Therefore, it is relevant to claim that representatives of a social class are shaped under the influence of education, surrounding people, family traditions, income rates and many other factors. As a result, representatives of lower class have fewer possibilities to realize themselves as successful politicians. It can be supposed that they will become criminals or lawbreakers sooner than lawmakers. Lawmakers/breakers and social class Symbolic context of a social class has been influenced by politics freight. The western considerations about the nature and the culture and thus further considerations about what class is, is usually conducted in terms of â€Å"binary oppositions†. In the theory of criminology, social class considerations in terms of â€Å"binary oppositions† have remained relevant to the modern society. On the one hand, in accordance with criminologists, it is impossible to differ between â€Å"criminals† and â€Å"non-criminals†. Nevertheless, starting from the XXI century it has been claimed that nature of criminals is related to gender, race and class. More often criminals are accounted for representatives of an underclass, i.e. the most disadvantageous people who are unemployed or neglected by the society (Andersen and Collins, 1998). It is relevant to trace these interrelations in terms of four main sociological approaches: â€Å"quantitative studies; time and place studies; ethnographic studies, and social construction studies† (Andersen and Collins, 1998). In quantitative studies individuals’ misbehavior leads to a crime. A representation of certain socio-economic groups is usually questioned in this approach, because very often data collection for such kind of researches limits background data of c riminals. Some analysts claim that â€Å"The lack of both significant class effects and any race effects in our general crime scale may suggest a possible interaction effect between a social class and race† (Ibid, p. 607). Therefore, in making their judgments lawmakers often take into account an interrelation between a social class and a crime or between who may be potential lawbreakers or lawmakers. Gender, age and family income are often influential factors of crime’