ABSTRACT
In our previous chapter the problem of social class has been touched upon mainly with reference to the relationship between worker and employer in factories, but it has of course a much wider significance and dominates the whole of British society and, perhaps to a lesser degree, some other parts of the western world too. And as most criminals are believed to belong to the lower social classes the subject presents us with one of the most important issues of the sociology of crime. In spite of the existence of an immense sociological literature on class, basic questions such as the definition of class; the dividing line between the various social classes; the extent, directions and effect of social mobility which has taken place in the post-war years; the forms of social conflict engendered by the existence of different classes, and many others are still far from settled. They have been studied by sociologists, social anthropologists, journalists, novelists and playwrights alike. Criminologists have up to the last ten or fifteen years lagged somewhat behind, but, mainly thanks to the work of Edwin H. Sutherland and his school, they are beginning to make up for past omissions. For us the basic problems are these: how far does the pattern of crime depend on the class structure of society? how far do changes in this structure, therefore, lead to corresponding changes in the pattern of crime? and how far are class conflicts responsible for crime? Before dealing with these criminological implications of the problem we have to consider the attempts made by sociologists and others to clarify the general issues. 2
