topic 1.2 - explain the social construction of criminality

Question 1

what is the social construction of criminality?

Answer 1

refers to something that has been made or defined by society rather than simply occurring naturally. Therefore what counts as criminality is simply whichever acts a society defines.

Question 2

how laws change from culture to culture - polygamy

Answer 2

polygamy is the practice of having more than one wife or husband at the same time there are 2 types of polygamy.

Question 3

polygyny

Answer 3

where a man may take 2 or more wives

Question 4

polyandary

Answer 4

where a woman may take 2 or more husbands

Question 5

how laws change from culture to culture - polygamy - where is it legal

Answer 5

Polygyny is legal in 58 countries while polyandry is confined to a handful of societies mainly in the himilayas. Most societies where polygamy is legal are mulslim majority countries. In 5 multi cutural societies with a large muslim population (india, Phillipines…) the law permits polygamous marriage but for muslims only

Question 6

how laws change from culture to culture - polygamy - where is it a crime

Answer 6

polygamy is against the ln most countries even in many muslim countries restrictions are placed on it and in 2 - Turkey and Tunisia - polygamy is a crime. In the UK anyone who goes through a marrige ceremony while still married to someone else is commiting the crime of Bigamy which is punishable with up to 7 years inprisonment.

Question 7

how laws change from culture to culture - polygamy - reasons why the law varies between cultures - religion

Answer 7

the Qur’an permits Muslim men to take up to 4 wives and this is reflected in the laws of most Muslim countries. In the USA the Mormon Church practiced polygamy until 1890 and it continues to be practiced illegally by some fundamentalist mormon splinter groups

Question 8

how laws change from culture to culture - polygamy - reasons why the law varies between cultures - tradition

Answer 8

polygamy has traditionally been practised in some African societies though it has declined sharply in recent decades

Question 9

How laws change from culture to culture - Adultery

Answer 9

adultery involves a sexual act between 2 people, one or both of whom is married to another person. However, what counts as a sexual act may vary between cultures or states

Question 10

How laws change from culture to culture - Adultery - where is it a crime?

Answer 10

Most societies that criminalise adultery are Muslim majority countries though several christian majority countries in Africa make adultery a criminal offence, as do the phillipines, Taiwan and 21 US states. Punishments vary widely from stoning to death (rare) to caining to a fine (in Rhode Island, USA)

Question 11

How laws change from culture to culture - Adultery - where is it legal

Answer 11

in most countries, including the UK, adultery is not against the law. In india it ceased to be a crime in 2018

Question 12

How laws change from culture to culture - Adultery - reasons why the law varies between cultures - religion

Answer 12

most religions condemn adultery. Not commiting adultery is one of the 10 commandments shared by christianity, Islam and Judaism. In societies where law- making has been strongly influnced by religion, adultery had often been made a crime

Question 13

How laws change from culture to culture - Adultery - reasons why law varies between cultures - the position of women

Answer 13

laws against adultery are often found in societies where women occupy a very subordinate position. Usually in such societies the adultery laws are themselves unequal.

Question 14

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - when where homosexual acts between men made illegal in UK

Answer 14

1885 - with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment

Question 15

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - when where homosexual acts between men aged 21 and over legalised in England and Wales

Answer 15

1967

Question 16

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - when was the age of consent lowered to 18

Answer 16

1994

Question 17

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - when was the age equalised with heterosexuals at 16

Answer 17

2000

Question 18

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - what law to do with homosexuality did the British introduce into their colonies during the British Empire?

Answer 18

In 1861 they introduced a law in India making homosexuality a crime. This was struck down by Indias supreme court in 2018 and homosexuality is no longer an offence

Question 19

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - reasons why the law changed - the Wolfenden report

Answer 19

After ww2 there was an increase in prosecutions of gay men and by 1954 over 1000 where in prison. Following several trials of well known figures, the government set up a committee under Sir John Wolfenden to consider reform of the law. After gathering evidence from police, religious leaders and gay men whos identity was concealed. The report published in 1957 recommended that homosexual acts in private beween adults over 21 should be legalised

Question 20

How laws change over time - Homosexuality - reasons why law changed - campaigns

Answer 20

the homosexual law reform society made up of leading public figures, succesfully campaigned for the change in the law that legalised gay sex in 1967. Further campaigns by stonewall and the campaign for homosexual equality led eventually to equalising the age of consent to 16.

Question 21

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment

Answer 21

in the past physical punishment for criminal behaviour was common and at various times in British history, criminals (depending on their crime) could be punished by capital punishment or corporal punishment.

Question 22

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - capital punishment

Answer 22

by hanging, not only for murder but also for less serious crimes. For example the 1723 Black act made over 50 offences of theft and poaching into capital crimes

Question 23

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - corporal punishment

Answer 23

has included flogging, birching (caning), branding with hot irons and being put in the stocks.

Question 24

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - changes in the law

Answer 24

over time the number of offences carrying the death penalty was reduced until it remained only for murder and treason. Capital punishment was finally abolished in Britain in 1965. Corporal punishment has also gradually dissapeared. For example flogging in the armed forced was abolished in 1881 and all corporal punishment of offenders was abolished in 1967

Question 25

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - when was capital punishment abolished in Britain

Answer 25

1965

Question 26

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - when was flogging in the armed forced abolished

Answer 26

1881

Question 27

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - when was all corporal punishment for offenders abolished

Answer 27

1967

Question 28

how laws change over time - laws concerning physical punishment - 3 reasons for the changed

Answer 28

1) capital punishment is now regarded as a breach of the most basic human right - the right of life 2) nothing can be done to correct a miscarrige of justice - where a person is executed and later proven innocent 3) the death penality does not prove to be much of a deterrant. Most murders are committed in the heat of the moment without thought to the possible punishment.

Question 29

how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur -differential enforcement of law

Answer 29

the law is not always enforced equaly for example moral panics about certain crimes and the situations in which they occur can lead to offenders being treated more harshly by the courts

Question 30

how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur -differential enforcement of law - moral panics

Answer 30

those convicted of relitivley minor offenced commited during the london riots 2011, such as theft were more likely to reveive custodial sentences than similar cases committed under normal conditions. Likewise the courts imposed more severe sentences on youths convicted of offenced during the moral panic over mods and rockers in the 1960s in these cases the stiffer sentences were often handed down to teach young people a lesson and deter others

Question 31

how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur -differential enforcement of law - typifications

Answer 31

another way in which the law may be enforenced differently against similar cases is shown by the work of Chambliss. Chambliss studied 2 groups of youths, the middle class ' saints' and the working class 'roughnecks'. He found that while both groups commited offenced the police enforenced the law more strictly against the roughtnecks.

Question 32

how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur - age of criminal responsibility

Answer 32

2 people may commit the same criminal act but this will be treated differently by the law if one of them is below the age of criminal responsibility. This is the age below which a child is deemed not to have the capacity to commit a crime. The logic behind this is that children below a certain age are unable to understand the full meaning of the act they have committed and so cannot be held responsible for it in the same way

Question 33

how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur - age of criminal responsibility - what is the age

Answer 33

the age of criminal responsibility varies from place to place. IN England and Wales and Norther Irleland it is 10 years old. No other country in europe has a lower age of criminal responsbility than this. In Scotland it is 12

Question 34

how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur - age of criminal responsibility - youth courts and punishments

Answer 34

children or young people who commit a crime may be treated differently be the justice system. Most countries have seperate courts to deal with offenders below a certain age. In England and Wales, youth courts are special magistrates' courts that hear cases involving people aged 10-17. Youth courts are less formal: defendants are called by their first name and members of the public are not nromally allowed in. The court cannot send anyone to prison but can impose sentences including a detention and training order carried out in a secure center.