EFFECT OF SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS AND SEX ON ATTITUDE TOWARDS CRIME

INTRODUCTION

Social class, or socioeconomic status (SES), refers to an individual’s rank vis-à-vis others in society in terms of wealth, occupational prestige, and education . Abundant resources and elevated rank allow upper-class individuals increased freedom and independence , giving rise to self-focused patterns of social cognition and behavior . Relative to lower-class individuals, upper-class individuals have been shown to be less cognizant of others and worse at identifying the emotions that others feel .Socio-economic status refer to the social and economic position occupied by parents in the society, Ivor (1978) defined it as a level made up of individuals who deem themselves equal due to similarities in family background, level of education, occupation, race and attitude towards social issues. Adebayo (1981) observed that the social status of individuals is a reflection of their economic status and he went further to explain that socio-economic status is usually a measure of the income and occupation of the individual, irrespective of his or her educational or social standing. According to him this has a tremendous influence on students’ behaviour