What is Crime and Deviance? Crime & deviance What is Crime and Deviance?

Introduction Crime – an act which breaks the laws of society. E.g. murder Deviance – behaviour which does not conform to the norms and values of society. E.g. being naked in public. They are related to norms and values that most people in society share. Without these norms and values society would be in chaos.

Relationship Between Crime and Deviance Crime and deviance both refer to actions in society which could involve more than one person. These can be; Normal but a crime e.g. speeding Normal and not a crime e.g. buying food Deviant and a crime e.g. murdering Deviant and not a crime e.g. talking to yourself

Social Nature and Relativity of C & D It is argued that crime and deviance is socially constructed. It is also a part of the nature/nurture debate because they believe that what we think is criminal/deviant is not biologically linked. Each society instead makes up what is right and wrong and socialises its members into thinking it too. E.g. nudity. Relativity of deviancy and crime - Deviancy doesn’t depend on the act but the way society reacts to it and is defined to the social setting in which the act takes place. These are; Place – e.g. fighting in the boxing ring and in public. Person – e.g. a fat women wearing tight clothes vs a skinny woman. Time – e.g. homosexuality. Society – e.g. tipping, masks.

Types of Crime (1) There are five types; street, youth, organised, violent and white collar. Street Crime – occurs in public places; Pick pocketing Buying/selling drugs Prostitution Graffiti

Types of Crime (2) Youth Crime – young people are more like to commit offences like vandalism. Juvenile Delinquency Another term youth crime. Refers to people between 10 and 17. Actually refers to young people involved in anti-social behaviour which can be criminal or not. Different procedures for dealing with juvenile delinquency is juvenile detention centres and youth courts. The number of children committing crimes are so high that it should cause worry but instead it is considered normal because most of the time it only happens once or twice whilst they are young. If they commit crimes often or increasingly it is probable that they will continue past adolescence and this type of behaviour in this type of person is seen even before reaching adolescence. Albert Cohen – identified working class boys as a subculture which encourages crime who are less likely to do well in school but want status and money anyway and as a result do not conform with mainstream values and choose crime instead. David Matza – juveniles turn to crime through a process of denying social rules apply to them; Denial of responsibility Denial of injury Denial of victim Condemnation of the condemners Appeal to a higher authority. Street and youth crime in media – most people see these as major concerns in society mainly because of the media as they tend to focus largely on these. Forces of social control also spend a lot of time bringing these cases to justice and attention. Feral youths – young people who have not been socialised properly] New right – hate this and think children need stricter discipline from formal and informal agents of socialisation

Types of Crime (3) Organised Crime – groups of criminals who engage in illegal activity on a large scale. This type of crime is popular in movies. E.g. drug trafficking and mafia. Violent Crime – crime where the offender uses violence or the threat of violence upon the victim. May be objective or a means to an end. Includes crimes committed with weapons. Except for rape, men are most likely to be victims of this.

Types of Crime (4) Occupational crime – breaking rules/laws at work e.g. employee stealing food from supermarket. Corporate crime – crimes committed to benefit company and often have huge consequences but are never brought to justice however they may be fined. E.g. selling dangerous goods. Government crime – government breaking treaties, agreements and laws. E.g. breaking laws about human rights. White collar crime – mostly middle class workers who tend to work independently and have more chances to commit crimes. E.g. fiddling expenses, embezzlement. White collar crime – most people are affected by this but its not talked about because white collar crime is committed by powerful people who have influence over what the public is being told. Marxist opinion – white collar crime an example of power of the ruling class.