1. From Memory No Discussion No Prompts
Immediate Activity
Spaced Retrieval
From Memory No Discussion No Prompts
Explain one strength and one limitation of using official statistics in sociological research.
What do we mean by the term norms?
Social rules(formal and informal), expectations or standards of behaviour for particular situations.
Your thoughts :How might this relate to crime and deviance?
What is meant by material deprivation?
Your thoughts: How might this link to crime and deviance?
Which social group is the most likely to be excluded from school?
Your thoughts: How might this relate to crime and deviance?

2. Year 13 Sociology: Crime and Deviance
Year 13 Sociology: Crime and Deviance. The definitions of Crime and Deviance
Big Questions to address in this topic:
How are crime and deviance defined, and by whom?
How do these definitions vary according to time, culture and location?
Why are some actions and individuals seen as more deviant than others?
Sunday, 18 November 2018

3. What is crime? ?
What is deviance? ?

4. Behaviour 1 Man running down the street in woman’s underwear
Not deviant
Charity run as part of rag week by medical students at Leeds university, this raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities

5. Behaviour 2 A man in his fifties offers a child of 8 some wine.
Not deviant
In the Catholic Church children can take communion including communion wine from around the age of 7.

6. Deviant but not Criminal
Criminal but not deviant
Deviant and Criminal
Neither Deviant or Criminal

7. TASK 1: Criminal, deviant, both or neither?2 3 4 5 6 7

8. So how do sociologists define deviance?
Deviance is behaviour which falls outside the social norms ‘which are accepted by a significant number of people’ (Giddens 1993).
An example of this could be a student swearing in a class room or a person drinking alcohol in a children’s playground as this behaviour is generally regarded as unacceptable by the majority of people. Defining deviance in this way is a ‘normative definition’.
However other sociologists argue that rather than using a normative definition of deviance we should use a ‘reactivist one’ meaning that an act is only deviant if other people label it as deviant and react to it, meaning that no action in itself is deviant.
To use the above examples, some would argue that swearing in class or drinking in a playground is only deviant if the action is witnessed and a sanction is put in place.
Key concepts, when you see words in red , we need to define these
key concepts and place them in our glossary

9. Normative definitions: Anthony Giddens
‘Non-conformity to a given norm, or set of norms, which are accepted by a significant number of people in a community or society’ (Anthony Giddens 1993).
This statement fits into the category of:
Normative definitions of devaince

10. Labelling Theory: Howard Becker
“No
action in
itself is deviant.”
It has to excite some social reaction from others.
Howard Becker (above) highlights the social construction of deviance by stating:
It depends upon who commits it, who sees it, and what action is taken about it.
This statement fits into the category of:
reactivist definitions of deviance

11. All this suggests that…..
What is considered criminal or deviant will vary across time, place and culture.
Becker suggests that what is considered deviant or criminal will vary further depending upon who commits the ‘deviant’ act, who witnesses it and what the repercussions are.
Therefore we can argue that definitions of crime and deviance are socially constructed.

12. 4 mark question
Outline two ways in which crime and deviance can be seen as a social construction

13. What you should be aiming for this lesson- Focus on exam success from the very start!
Band 1 Students are able to discuss what makes an action deviant and will begin to consider how this will vary, however this discussion is unlikely to include key terms . References to sociologists may be limited or inaccurately applied.
Band 2 Students will be able to explain what makes an action deviant and will be able to explain why this will vary across time, place and culture. References to sociologists will be relevant and applied specifically to the question although they may lack the depth required to reach the higher bands.
Band 3 Students can confidently explain why both crime and deviance are relative and will use correct terminology throughout. Detailed references will be made to sociologists showing more than one point of view with a range of examples accurately applied.

14. Statistics and patterns of crime
Learning goals for the topic:
Understand different types of crime statistics and the statistical patterns shown in them (AO1)
Apply statistical awareness to current crime trends (AO2)
Analyse strengths and weaknesses of different types of crime statistics (AO3)
Evaluate the reliability and validity of crime statistics (AO3)

15. Introduction
Most people think they have a pretty good idea about trends in crime, who commits crime and who is likely to become a victim
However our common sense ideas do not always match the picture given in statistics
Many people believe that crime rates are rising in the UK, but for many years the number of crimes recorded by the police has fallen
People also assume that crimes are committed in wealthy areas, but in actual fact police reports show that poorer areas have higher crime rates
But are these figures accurate? How can we use crime statistics to understand why some people commit crime? We will examine this in this topic

16. Immediate activity, no notes, no discussion, no books
Without looking over yesterday’s work tell me….
The three types of crime statistics sociologists use
The two definitions of deviance sociologists use
One way in which we can support the statement that definitions of crime and deviance are social constructions

17. Types of crime statistics:
Sociologists use 3 ways of building up a picture of crime patterns:
Police recorded statistics:
Records kept by the police and other official agencies
Are published every 6 months by the Home Office
Have been collected since providing an excellent historical overview
Self-report studies:
Surveys asking people if they have committed crimes
Can be conducted by government departments or sociological researchers
They rely on the truthfulness of the respondents
Victim studies:
Surveys asking a sample of people whether they have been victims of crime and if that crime was reported to the police
The most important is the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), conducted annually by the Home Office

18. Group task- you be the expert:
Link with another group and teach each other about your method
EXTENSION: Consider what sociological schools of thought would have to say about the ways we measure crime
Group 1s will look at Police recorded statistics Group 2s will look at Victim studies Group 3s will look at Self-report studies
Consider:
Strengths of the method
Weaknesses of the method
What kind of data it would produce
How useful this data would be in explaining crime patterns
Top band responses will address:
Validity
Reliability
Representative
Quantitative
Qualitative
Interpretivist
Positivist
Time for this task:

19. Applying your knowledge
Is too trivial to bother the police with
Think of a crime that….
Where the victim is not in a position to give information to the police
Seen as a private matter between friends and family
Victims may fear reprisals
Too embarrassing to report
What impact might all of these have on official police statistics?
Individual Task: Complete the reporting and recording sheet. Justify your decisions

20. Understanding the dark figure of crime statistics

21. From Memory No Discussion No Prompts
Immediate Activity
Spaced Retrieval
From Memory No Discussion No Prompts
True or false?
All actions that are deviant are criminal
All actions that are criminal are deviant
More crimes are recorded by victim studies than in the official crime statistics
Self report studies are filled in by the victims of crime
For crimes to appear on the official statistics they must be reported to and recorded by the police.
The main victim study used by sociologists is the CSEW
AS research methods throw back statements, which is true?
Marxist accept official statistics as facts
Functionalist accept official statistics as facts
Feminist accept official statistics as facts

23. Lack of crime reporting
Crimes may not be reported due to:-
fear of reprisal.
Lack of awareness (fraud).
Fear it may not be taken seriously.
Crime is too trivial.
Official statistics
Complied from government departments like the police and courts.
Recorded crime
A crime, which has been recorded by the police as a crime. (Only 40% of reported crime is then recorded due to discretionary powers of the police).
Reported crime
A crime, which the public has reported to the police. (90% of all crime the police deal with is reported to them by the public).
Crime statistics
Inaccurate picture of crime
White collar crime dealt with administratively.
Only serious crimes from incidences is recorded.
Rules for counting always change.
Lack of recording makes clear up rates look higher.
Official crime statistics are the tip of the iceberg, BCS and self-report studies show there is more crime than what can be seen on the surface. This is known as the dark figure of crime (what is recorded vs. reported).

24. CSEW The study is based on a representative sample of adults living in private households in England and Wales. In 2016 over 36,000 surveys were conducted (50,000 sent out). Certain crimes are excluded due to low reporting e.g. drug possession or dealing, fraud, offences against businesses.
British Crime Survey
A victim study which asks people if they have been a victim of a crime and the circumstances of that crime. It was conducted every two years from then every year since.
Self-report studies
Anonymous questionnaires which ask respondents if they have committed a crime over the past year.
BCS (replaced in 2009) CSEW and Offender self-report studies
They are usually based on self-completed questionnaires or interviews which contain a list of offences. Respondents are asked to highlight which they have committed. Self report studies show us that most people commit crime at some point in their lives so crime is normal.
Trends and patterns
BCS says 10.7 million crimes committed, OS (4.7 million.
The majority of crime is property related.
Violent crime accounts for 1/5 of all crime
Overall crime peaked in 1995 and has declined ever since.
Men aged most likely to be a victim of violence.
BCS: includes unreported and unrecorded crime but only 75% is comparable with police statistics as different categories are used.
Self-report: Mainly street crime (working class) excludes hidden crimes like domestic violence. Only gives a small picture of criminal activity.

25. Exam question:
‘Outline and explain two reasons why official police statistics may not be the best way of measuring crime.’ [4 marks]