ABSTRACT
Few analysts would dispute that a disproportionately large share of the clients in the criminal justice system are socioeconomically disadvantaged [Hirschi, 1969; Shover and Inverarity, 1995]. Individuals with minimal levels of educational attainment and weak labor market attachments dominate the prison populations in nations like Sweden [Kling and Gustavsson 2002], Canada [Trevethan et al., 1999], Finland [Kruttschnitt and Savolainen, 2009], and the United States [Western, 2006]. Is this not su cient proof that low socioeconomic status is associated with crime? Yes and no. It does indeed appear that prolonged involvement in a criminal lifestyle is largely inconsistent with middle-class status. Outside the ctional depictions of organized crime families, as in the TV show Th e Sopranos, it is rare to encounter a career criminal living in an a uent suburb, supporting a wife and two kids.
