specific propositions sociologists require to test theories properly.(senna, page 234) Others dispute the claims that the crimes of the rich are worst than those of the poor. Criminal activity and immoral behavior occur on every social level.Can a correlation between crime rates and social class be found in the non-theoretical world? According to a study done by Mary Lynn McDonald there is a direct correlation between social class and delinquency. She used a four-fold classification of social class: upper middle, lower middle, upper working, and lower working. She then went through several different categories of crime: serious theft, damage, violent, petty theft, and general misconduct.In each of the categories there was a higher admission to committing these crimes from upper working and lower working boys than the middle class boys. The gap grew even more wider when a two-fold classification was used grouping the working-class boys together and the middle-class boys. There are differences between the social classes in rates of admitted delinquency, measured several ways, consistently showing higher rates on the part of the working-class boy. (McDonald, page 98)Richard Quinney sees criminal justice as a principle feature of the modern advanced capitalist society. The concept of injustice has evolved with the development of capitalism. As economic development goes through different stages the notion of justice gets tied to the basis of production securing the existing order. Capitalist justice regulates the struggle between classes in developing capitalism. Justice in a capitalist society, today as always, is an ideological and practical instrument in class struggle. (Quinney, Page 2)Justice is to be applied to individual cases, but the general objective is for the promotion of social order. The healthy order becomes one that benefits the capitalist class. Justice in the capitalist society equals the idea of equal justice with the form...
