ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how crime and criminal justice shape and are shaped by inequality. It considers how inequality at both the individual and community levels can lead to crime as well as how crime contributes to inequality. The system of criminal justice is also related to inequality as it draws disproportionately from poor and minority populations and has itself been linked to the perpetuation of inequality. The chapter also looks at the relationship between inequality, crime, and criminal justice. Social theory provides us with a number of different perspectives to understand the purpose of crime and the law. One of the problems with this list of index crimes is that it does not include any serious, very costly white-collar or corporate crimes. In 2018, lawmakers in South Carolina proposed a law banning the wearing of saggy pants. Social conditions affect the number of crimes committed against members of demeaned status groups.
