Section (a) Flashcards
Why is deviance a wider category of behaviour than crime?
It includes acts that don’t involve breaking a law
How are deviance and crime relative?
What is considered deviant or criminal varies from time to time and place to place
What do crime and deviance both go against?
Dominant values
Examples of informal social control
Comments, ridicule, sarcasm, disapproving looks, words of praise
How does the media’s reporting of criminal behaviour and court cases act as social control?
This informs and reminds people about behaviour that will be punished and reinforces shared feelings about right and wrong behaviour
How do the religions control the behaviour of their members?
Religions have rules about behaviour for their followers.
How might religions affect the laws of the wider society?
Some of the rules they have may become part of the law or help shape a general set of values on which laws are based
How do the police act as agencies of social control
They investigate criminal acts and catch offenders
How do law courts exercise social control?
They hear charges brought against people, decide on their guilt or innocence and then impose punishments
What is the penal system?
The formal organisation of punishments for crime in a society
How does the penal system exercise social control?
They oversee the punishments imposed by law courts using institutions such as prisons
