Types of Crime Dr. McDonald is a general practitioner who runs a medical clinic
ID: 3460064 • Letter: T
Question
Types of Crime Dr. McDonald is a general practitioner who runs a medical clinic located in a low-income area in Anytown. The majority of his clientele receive government assistance—Medicaid—for medical care. The clinic runs a Saturday program directed at childhood health, where Dr. McDonald comes out and sits with all the kids for about half an hour. He doesn’t deliver medical services, but he charges the children’s insurance for office calls and various procedures. Randy has been on unemployment since his plant shut down. In an act of desperation he walks into a crowded mall and sits in the playground section. When he sees a child distract his mother he grabs the woman's purse and runs off with it. After this successful theft, he learns to circulate around to the different malls in his area and repeat the scenario. Explain how the conflict perspective would explain the differential treatment of a street criminal and a white-collar criminal. Elaborate on your peers’ posts with a well-thought-out, substantive comment that contributes new knowledge to the conversation.
Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.
(Answer) There are two criminals here, Dr. McDonald and Randy. Dr. McDonald has a good paying job, yet he insists on charging the poor individuals of the neighbourhood unfairly for meager services. On the other hand, Randy is out of a job and is facing a bout with depression. He has stolen because he would need to pay for his basic necessities.
Crimes have been committed in both scenarios. However, the crimes by Dr. McDonald are well insulated with loopholes and rules, that it becomes a white-collar crime. Randy, on the other hand, has committed a blatant crime which is why it is a blue collar crime.
According to the conflict theory, formulated by the works of Karl Marx and Robert K. Merton, an individual is in conflict with the society because of the standards he/she will have to live up to, without being given the tools to achieve them.
Randy, the blue collar criminal, would have expectations like having a college education by 25, a car by 27, a house by 30 years etc. However, the society that places these expectations on him, does not really give him to tools to achieve these standards. This is how the conflict perspective affects Randy. However, the crimes by Dr. McDonald are probably worse, because he has probably met the standards that society has set for him and is seemingly self-sufficient. At this stage, he should not resort to crime but, rather he should offer resources to individuals who are a victim of the conflict theory. This would help him enable others to come out of the conflict zone and actually achieve what is expected of them.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.