SOC446H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Arson, Curbed, Westview Press
Document Summary
What prompts individuals to engage in theft and other crimes. Shover emphasizes how cultural capital is a key factor in shaping criminal decisions: working class individuals often have curbed aspirations and engage in dirty work. Rather than choosing crime due to a rational choice, it is more influenced by underlying social factors. Great pretenders: pursuits and careers of persistent thieves. Preface to chapter 4 (pg. xi 29 -45, 49- 69, 77- 111). In the contemporary world, most states prohibit or regulate literally thousands of behavio rs, but eight crimes and those individuals suspected or convicted of them are at the core of criminology textbooks and undergraduate criminology courses. Index property crimes (including robbery) and those who commit them, in fact, are a larg e part of the workload of the entire criminal justice apparatus. Persistent thieves are are distinguished by persistence at common law property crimes despite their, at best, ordinary level of success.
