AC1.2 Explain The Social Construction Of Criminality Flashcards
Definition of social construction
When an act becomes criminal or decriminalised due to labels from from society
Definition of cross-cultural deviance
Different groups in society have diverse beliefs, traditions and religions which influence their behaviour and attitudes towards what is considered criminal
Cross-cultural deviance - polygamy
The practice of having multiple husbands or wives at one time
- Polygany - one man married to several women
- Polyandry - one woman married to multiple men
- polygany is legal in 58 countries (mostly Muslim)
- polygamy illegal in most countries
- religion - Qur’ran allows Muslim men to have 4 wives
- tradition - Practices in some African countries, so men have more children
Cross-cultural deviance - homosexuality
Sexual attraction between members of the same sex
- legal in UK, USA, countries across Europe and South America
- illegal in 72 countries, death penalty in some middle Eastern (Saudi Arabia)
- religion - cultures with less religious influence on social norms are more accepting
- public opinion - 95% of people in Egypt are against homosexuality
Definition of historical deviance
How acts change over time - decriminalised (e.g cannabis) or goes from deviant to crime (e.g revenge porn)
Historical deviance - R V Ahluwalia case
- Mrs Ahluwalia was abused for 12 years
- guilty of murder of husband
- Southall black sisters (campaign organisation against domestic abuse) brought an appeal
- judge created new defence ‘battered woman syndrome’
- convicted of manslaughter and released from prison
Historical deviance - homosexuality
- laws have changed greatly since 1967
- 2000 age of consent became equal to heterosexuality
- 2013 marriage act - gay marriage legalised in UK