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Social class (Crime)

Social class is an identity based on shared socio-economic status. Different sociologists approach class in different ways, with traditional Marxists focusing on the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and their differing relationship to the means of production; and other sociologists considering class stratification more in relation to job roles and incomes. Sociologists are interested in why people from some social classes are more likely to commit crimes than others and also why the types of crime that people from different classes are likely to commit differ significantly. Working-class individuals are more likely to commit crime than middle-class individuals; middle-class crimes are more likely to be things like fraud or tax evasion (see white-collar crime) compared with increased likelihood of theft or violent crime for those with lower incomes.

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