Manageable discord: fraud and resistance in the social security system

Abstract

This article presents findings from a study of the attitudes and beliefs of social security claimants engaged in benefit fraud. The basis for a taxonomy of such claimants is outlined, drawing upon concepts of reflexivity and anxiety. This is compared and contrasted with other theoretically-drawn taxonomies, one relating to workplace crime, the other to the consumption of social care services. Finally, the article considers whether benefit fraud is intelligible as resistance to social control. It is argued that benefit fraud represents a conservative form of resistance. Benefit fraud does not signify a “culture” of resistance, so much as a “manageable” form of rule-breaking.