Crime and Deviance Flashcards
Behaviour, beliefs and physical characteristics that break social norms and produce negative reactions
Deviance
Acts that are immoral and illegal such as murder, rape and theft
Criminal and deviant
Thought of as natural but is actually the product of cultural expectations
Socially defined behaviour
Punishment to those who do not conform to social expectations eg by ignoring them or using argument to try to change their behaviour
Negative sanctions
The way crime is officially measured, based on statistics collected by the Home Office. Drawn from records kept by the police/other official agencies. Published annually. Secondary source
Official crime statistics
A large amount of criminal activity never appears in the crime statistics
Dark figure of crime
Surveys of the public which ask them to report any crimes they have experienced, whether or not they have reported them
Victim surveys
A victim survey conducted annually by a team of home office researchers. Includes crimes not reported to police. Collects info about victims, circumstances, behaviour of offenders.
British crime survey (BCS)
Surveys of the population which ask them to confess to crime they have committed but for which they have not been caught. Anonymously, they tick off the criminal or deviant acts from a list.
Self report survey
An illegal act which is punishable by law. It involves actions such as robbery, fraud or shoplifting
Crime
Views of what is criminal or deviant behaviour are influenced by the values and norms of the society we live in
Socially constructed
A group of a person’s own age who are important to them and often influence them to behave in a certain way
Peer group pressure
A group with a set of values and ways of behaving which are distinctive from the generally accepted cultural values of society
Sub-cultures
Stress caused by menstruation can cause irrational behaviour. Approx 80% of female crime occurs around menstruation
Premenstrual tension (PMT)
felt when people compare their own situation to that of others whom they believe to be unfairly better off. lacking resources the majority of others have eg mobile phone, laptop could lead to criminal activity
Relative deprivation
juvenile and adult crime in terms of the legal and illegal opportunities available to them ie in areas of low education and employability people may turn to illegal activity to achieve success
Opportunity structure
the process whereby the mass media can exaggerate the significance of a particular social issue
deviancy amplification
rules written down in the form eg of laws or codes of conduct. usually associated with the ways the state have official status and punishment, penalties, negative sanctions if broken
formal rules
rules that are taken for granted rather than written down. provide guidelines on how we’re expected to behave in particular social settings eg wouldn’t ask permission to use the toilet at home but would at school
informal rules
the process by which people are persuaded to obey the rules and conform eg laws, police etc
social control
social control based on unwritten rules and processes such as the approval of disapproval of other people enforced via social control include peer groups and family. positive/negative social sanctions
informal social control
individual or group that is responsible for ensuring members of society conform to socially acceptable behaviour eg family, peers, work, legal system, schools
agents of social control
the monitoring of the behaviour of people and objects within society
surveillance
a television system often used for surveillance
CCTV (closed-circuit television)
occurs when society is stable, ordered, and runs smoothly without continual distruption
social order
agents of social control with the power to enforce the law
police
conduct of legal proceeding against a defendant for criminal behaviour
prosecution
may be given by police to adults who admit they are guilty of first time offences such as vandalism or petty theft. Counts towards a criminal record.
formal caution
an oral warning given by police. does not count towards a criminal record
informal caution
a formal verbal warning given by a police officer to a young person who admits they are guilty of a minor first offence
reprimand
a service a person performs for the benefit of their community in place of a prison sentence
community service
the suspension of a jail sentence. criminal given the chance to live in the community and follow certain conditions set by the court under the supervision of a specialised officer
probation
an order made by the courts against a person who has been shown to have engaged in antisocial behaviour ie drinking on the streets, vandalism, dealing/buying drugs. issued for minimum of two years and can ban person from continuing behaviour, visiting certain areas, interacting with certain people etc
ASBO (Anti Social Behaviour Order
the belief that the police and courts, because they are male dominated, are easier on women
chivalry thesis
a young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions
ladette
occurs when the everyday practices and procedures of an organisation eg police lead to discrimination against ethnic groups, either intentionally or unintentionally
institutional racism
when a person is accused of a crime of which they are not guilty
injustice
a situation where large numbers of people fail to follow generally accepted values, instead adopting various deviant forms of behaviour eg theft
anomie
criminal acts committed by middle class people in the course of their work
white-collar crime
crime carried out by individuals in work and ranges from minor theft of an organisation’s property to large scale fraud. white collar
occupational crime
crime carried out as a lifetime career such as drug running. white collar
professional crime
crime carried out by executives of organisations to increase profit and can include activities such as selling harmful products. white collar
corporate crime
crimes commited via computer such as transferring financial transactions from dormant accounts to your own. white collar
computer crime
the misappropriation of the identity (eg name, dob, current/previous addresses) of another person without their knowledge or consent. then used to obtain goods and services in that person’s name
identity theft
the economic impact associated with white collar crime and corporate crime such as loss of taxation revenue
financial harm
white collar crime. harm suffered by employees, consumers, community including sickness, injury, death from environmental pollution, sale of defective car tyres, unfit foods, work related exposure to toxins/chemicals
physical harm
white collar crime. includes mistrust that may develop between professionals and clients or employers/employees
social costs
a group that is defined as a threat to society’s values. seen as deviant/troublemakers
folk devil
a media-fuelled overreaction to social groups eg ‘hoodies’. process involves the media exaggerating the extent and significance of a social problem. group is cast as a folk devil. involves a process of scapegoating young people or blaming them for society’s problems
moral panic
an offence in which the offender demonstrates hostility to the victim based on the victim’s membership of a ‘racial’ group or the offence is motivated by hostility towards members of a ‘racial’ group because they are members of that group
racially aggravated offence
the process of blaming an individual or group for something that is not their fault
scapegoating
individuals are targeted and victimised because of their race, ethnicity or religion
racist victimisation
serious crimes, generally those for which an accused person may be sent to prison if found guilty
indictable offences
less serious crimes eg parking offences
non-indictable offences
