Social Class and Criminal Achievement

The monthly licit and illicit income of 195 offenders was reconstructed for the three-year period prior to their imprisonment. Our thesis here is that social class background increases one’s chances of succeeding in illicit activities and tends to decrease the severity of the criminal courts. The results of this study offer a new perspective on social stratification and criminal opportunity and call into question the understanding, widespread among criminologists, that social class has minimal impact on criminal trajectories.