Crime and Deviance

Question 1

What is meant by crime?

Answer 1

A crime is an illegal act that is punishable by law.

Question 2

What is deviance?

Answer 2

Deviance is behaviour which the majority of people disagree with, or which goes against the rules and norms and society. Deviant acts are not always illegal.

Question 3

When is an act seen as deviant?

Answer 3

Deviance is defined according to the social setting in which it takes place. Behaviour classed as ‘deviant’ can vary according to who performs the act and where they go. What is classified as deviant also varies between culture and the time period.

Question 4

What is the difference between formal and informal rules?

Answer 4

Rules may be formal, that is written down as laws or codes of conduct. Alternatively, they may be informal, that is unwritten and taken for granted.

Question 5

What are social order and social control?

Answer 5

Social order is necessary for society to run smoothly. Much of our behaviour is socially controlled by groups and society.

Question 6

What is the difference between formal and informal social control?

Answer 6

Formal social control is based on written rules and laws. Informal social control is based on informal social processes and is enforced through social pressure.

Question 7

What non-sociological explanations are there for criminal and deviant behaviour?

Answer 7

The cause of criminal and deviant behaviour have been explained in terms of psychological, biological and social factors. Psychological explanations focus on the psychological traits of individual offenders, such as being impulsive. Biological explanations focus on the genetic basis of criminals and antisocial behaviour.

Question 8

How do sociologists explain criminal and deviant behaviour?

Answer 8

Sociologists focus on social factors. Their explanation of crime and deviance include socialisation patterns, opportunity structures and relative deprivation.

Question 9

What other sociological explanations of criminal and deviant behaviour are there?

Answer 9

Sub-culture theories explain crime and delinquency in terms of the values of a particular subculture and the influence of the peer group. Marxist theories explain crime as resulting from the way capitalist society is structured.

Question 10

How does labelling theory explain criminal and deviant behaviour?

Answer 10

Labelling theory explores how and why certain people such as working class boys come to labelled as deviant or criminal.

Question 11

What are the main sources of statistical data on the extent of crime?

Answer 11

Official statistics can police and recorded crime are published in the UK by the home office. Victim surveys and self-report studies also provide statistical data on the extent of crime. British crime surveys estimates of crime and higher than the figures on crimes recorded by the police.

Question 12

How far do official statics on recorded crime measure the extent of crime?

Answer 12

Not all crime is discovered, witnessed, reported or recorded, so official statistics on police recorded crime do not tell the whole story.

Question 13

What is meant by the ‘social construction’ of official crime statistics?

Answer 13

Official statistics on police recorded crime are based on a series of decisions made by, for example, victims and police officers, as such; they do not provide a true picture of crime levels.

Question 14

What is the relationship between involvement in crime and age?

Answer 14

Official statistics on police recorded crime suggest that criminal activity is more commonly found in particular social groups such as young males. Possible explanations for this include group peer pressure.

Question 15

What is the relationship between crime and gender?

Answer 15

Official statistics on police record crime suggest that more men commit crime than women. Possible explanations for this include gender socialisation and the chivalry effect.

Question 16

How do we explain women’s increasing involvement in crime?

Answer 16

Recent statistics suggest that the number of female offenders in the UK is increasing. Possible explanations for this include changing social position of women and changing attitudes to gender and crime.

Question 17

What is the relationship between involvement in crime and ethnicity?

Answer 17

Members of some ethnic groups are over-represented while others are under-represented in the prison population relative to their proportion in the general population.

Question 18

How do we explain the patterns in statistics on crime and ethnicity?

Answer 18

Crime statistics are seen as reflecting policing methods and bias within the criminal justice system.

Question 19

What is the relationship between involvement in crime social class and locality?

Answer 19

Official statistics suggest that criminal activity is more common in particular social groups or localities. However, studies of white collar and corporate crime paint a more complex picture.

Question 20

What is the significance of criminal behaviour for communities and society?

Answer 20

Crime impacts on neighbourhoods, communities and on society generally.

Question 21

Why is youth crime seen as a social problem?

Answer 21

Crime is a major focus of concern and debate among politicians, the media and the public. Teenage crime in particular is seen as a social problem.

Question 22

What are the links between racism and crime?

Answer 22

Racism and racially aggravated crime are examples of social problems that governments have tried to tackle in recent years.

Question 23

Agents/agencies of social control

Answer 23

Agents of social control are individuals or groups that are responsible for ensuring members of society conform to socially acceptable behaviour. Different examples of these individuals and people are: family, work, schools, peer groups, legal system and religion.

Question 24

Anomie

Answer 24

Anomie is a social condition in which there is a lack of cohesion and order, especially in relation to norms and values.

Question 25

Antisocial behaviour

Answer 25

Crime and Disorder Act (1998): Acting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as (the defendant).

Question 26

Chivalry thesis

Answer 26

This is the process by which women who commit crime are treated more favorably by the police or courts compared to men. This leads to a lower crime rate for women.

Question 27

Community Service

Answer 27

Unpaid work, intended to be of social use, that an offender is required to do instead of going to prison.

Question 28

Computer Crime

Answer 28

Computer crime is illegal activity that is committed on the internet or through networks.

Question 29

Conformity

Answer 29

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms. Norms are implicit, unsaid rules, shared by a group of individuals, that guide their interactions with others.

Question 30

Corporate Crime

Answer 30

Corporate crime means crimes committed either by a business entity or corporation, or by individuals that may be identified with a corporation or other business entity.

Question 31

Crime rate

Answer 31

An offense rate, or crime rate, defined as the number of offenses per 100,000 population, is derived by first dividing a jurisdiction’s population by 100,000 and then dividing the number of offenses by the resulting figure.

Question 32

Dark figure

Answer 32

The dark (or hidden) figure of crime is a term employed by criminologists and sociologists to describe the amount of unreported or undiscovered crime.

Question 33

Data protection

Answer 33

The Data Protection Act controls how your personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government. Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is: used fairly and lawfully.

Question 34

Deviance

Answer 34

Rule-breaking behaviour of some kind, which fails to conform to the norms and expectations of a particular society or social group.

Question 35

Identity theft

Answer 35

the fraudulent practice of using another person’s name and personal information in order to obtain credit, loans, etc.

Question 36

Indictable offence

Answer 36

Indictable offences are generally the more serious crimes, and penalties are generally greater than for other offences. Major indictable matters can only be dealt with, whatever the defendant is pleading, in the District or Supreme court.

Question 37

Judiciary

Answer 37

The judiciary (also known as the judicial system or court system) is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes.

Question 38

Labelling theory

Answer 38

The labelling theory was thought of by Howard Becker. Labelling theorists argue that social agencies tend to label certain groups as criminals which encourages them to continue committing crimes because they start living up to their label as they feel that they are expected to behave that way.

Question 39

Master status

Answer 39

Master status is the social position that is the primary identifying characteristic of an individual. It is defined as: a status that has exceptional importance for social identity, often shaping a person’s entire life.

Question 40

Official crime statistics

Answer 40

Existing sources of quantitative data compiled by government agencies such as the Home Office.

Question 41

Probation

Answer 41

The release of an offender from detention, subject to a period of good behaviour under supervision.

Question 42

Recorded crime

Answer 42

Crime that is recorded by the police

Question 43

Relative deprivation

Answer 43

The measure of poverty in which a person’s wealth or lack of is compared to the rest of society, If they do not meet the general standard of living then they are classified as living in relative poverty.

Question 44

Scapegoat

Answer 44

A scapegoat is person or group that is forced to take the blame for happenings that are not their fault.

Question 45

Self-report studies

Answer 45

Self report studies question people about their offending. It measures the extent of self-reporting of crimes such as drug use and anti-social behaviour particularly among young people.

Question 46

Social control/sanctions

Answer 46

the enforcement of conformity by society upon its members, either by law or by social pressure

Question 47

Social construct

Answer 47

Sociologists argue that police recorded crime stats are ‘socially constructed’. This means
that the stats are the outcome of the decisions and choices made by the people, such as
witnesses, victims or police officers, who are involved in their construction.

Question 48

Socially defined behaviour

Answer 48

Deviance is socially defined. Whether an act is considered deviant or not depends on how people view and label the act. This means that deviance is judged according to the social setting or the context in which it takes place.

Question 49

Social order

Answer 49

it refers to a particular set or system of linked social structures, institutions, relations, customs, values and practices, which conserve, maintain and enforce certain patterns of relating and behaving.

Question 50

Stereotype

Answer 50

A stereotype is a rigid, oversimplified, often exaggerated belief that is applied both to an entire social category of people and to each individual within it. Stereotypes form the basis for prejudice, which in turn is used to justify discrimination and attitudes. They can be positive as well as negative.

Question 51

Sub-culture

Answer 51

a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture.

Question 52

Surveillance

Answer 52

Close observation of a person or group, especially one under suspicion

Question 53

Victim Surveys

Answer 53

Victim surveys ask people about their experiences of crime. The British Crime Survey (BCS), for example, measures crime via surveys with large samples of
households in England and Wales. It interviews people about whether they have been a victim of particular offences during the last year, and if so, whether they reported the crimes to the police.

Question 54

White collar crime

Answer 54

This term refers broadly to crimes committed by people in relatively high status positions, such as accountants, doctors or solicitors, during their
work. Examples include tax evasion and fiddling expense accounts at work

Question 55

Historial Evidence

Answer 55

Historical evidence suggests that what is considered as deviant can change over time. E.g. attitudes to smoking and to homosexuality have changed in Britain post World War II.

Question 56

Cross cultural Evidence

Answer 56

Cross-cultural evidence suggests that what is seen as deviant can vary across cultures. E.g. differing attitudes as to what is acceptable for women to wear and what is seen as appropriate within their group or society.