The s Discipline And Punish - 898 Words

In Focult’s â€Å"Discipline and Punish† (1977), he stated that laws were made for the rich to serve their needs. Its applicability and the way it’s administered and enforced caters to the rich and not the poor (Foucault, 1995). When crimes are committed by the rich, they have an arsenal of attorneys who are able to keep them from jail in addition to keeping the information away from the media. The poor do not have the luxury of retaining adequate representation. Inequalities do not end with once a guilty verdict is delivered. They continue on through the penalty phase as lower class citizens are processed through the penal system. The incarceration rates of those in the lower socioeconomic class have increased significantly over†¦show more content†¦These inequalities are not a recent phenomenon; Edwin Sutherland (1947) in â€Å"Principles of Criminology† presented an argument on how crime rates are low in egalitarian societies and high in inequitable societies due to lower socioeconomic groups’ propensity to have high rates in offending. There have been numerous studies conducted since Sutherland’s book. The results of studies conducted vary with some failing to show a consensus between economic class and crime, and with others showing a direct link between the two (Sutherland, 1947). In â€Å"Poverty, Income Inequality, and Crime† authors Hsieh and Pugh conducted a meta-analysis of over 30 aggregate data studies. The studies reported variables such as crime, poverty and income inequality. The results of their study showed that poverty and income inequality had a bearing on crime (Hsieh Pugh, 1993). Although the few studies mentioned in this paper are not representational of all studies ever conducted on crime causation, many do share commonalities. The most significant is the rich and powerful are given considerable latitude when it comes to laws and the criminal justice system. Future Research Future research on social class, inequality and crime is needed in order to build upon what’s already known about crime causation. With the passage of time, some variables will remain constant while others will fluctuate. Regardless of the