Unexplained Crimes of Class and Gender (From Critique and Explanation, P 71-90, 1986, Timothy F Hartnagel and Robert A Silverman, eds. See NCJ-102349)

• NCJ Number: 102352
• Author(s): J Hagan
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Transaction Publishers
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The instrument and object relationships established by and through formal and informal social control structures are central in explaining the varying criminal activities of men and women and corporations and individuals.

Abstract

Instrument-object relationships play a powerful role in organizing involvement in work and in crime. Women are traditionally denied full access to the out-of-home working world in a cyclical socialization process transmitted from mothers to daughters. Under this social structure, women are more likely than men to be the instruments and objects of informal social controls that dominate childhood socialization. Men are more likely than women to be the instruments and objects of formal legal controls that address juvenile and adult criminality. Corporate structures of work are less likely to be objects of both formal and informal social control than are individual actors. The absence of formal legal control of corporate crime means that little is known about this kind of crime compared to what is known about the 'street' crime of individuals. The relative absence of informal social control over corporate work activity suggests that there is much more corporate crime than is officially recognized. The varying forms and frequency of crime related to gender and work structure are subject to change as the public becomes more aware of the need to change the social control mechanisms that impact the sexes and work structures.