Crime and Deviance Flashcards
Agent of social control
Individual or group hat is responsible for ensuring members of society conform to socially acceptable behaviour.
Anomie
A situation where large numbers of people fail to follow generally accepted values, instead adopting various deviant forms of behaviour, such as theft.
ASBO
Anti-social Behaviour Order, an order made by the courts against a person who has been shown to have engaged in ant-social behaviour, for example drinking on the streets. Replaced by Criminal Behaviour Orders in 2014.
British Crime Survey
A victim survey conducted annually by a team of researchers at the Home Office. It measures the amount of crime in England and Wales by asking people about crimes they have experienced in the last year.
Capitalist society
An economic system where the production of goods is organised for profit and sold to a free market.
CCTV
Closed Circuit Television, a television system often used for surveillance.
Chivalry thesis
The belief that the police and courts, because they are male dominated, are easier on women.
Crime
Behaviour that breaks the law.
Dark figure of crime
A large amount of criminal activity never appears in the crime statistics.
Deviance
Behaviour that does not conform to the dominant norms of a specific society.
Identity theft
The misappropriation of the identity (such as the name, date of birth, current or previous address) of another person, without their knowledge or consent. These identity details are then used to obtain goods and services in that person’s name.
Indictable offences
Serious crimes, generally those for which an accused person may be sent to prison if found guilty.
Injustice
When a person is accused of a crime of which they are not guilty.
Institutional racism
Occurs when the everyday practices and procedures of an organisation, for example, the police, lead to discrimination against ethnic groups either intentionally or unintentionally.
Ladette
Young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions; a moral panic of the 1990s.
Non-indictable offences
Less serious crimes such as parking offences that do not lead to prison sentences.
Official crime statistics
The way crime is officially measured based on statistics collected by the Home Office.
Peer group pressure
A group of a person’s own age who are important to them and often influence them to behave in a particular way.
Police
Agents of social control with the power to enforce the law.
Prosecution
Legal proceedings against a defendant (the defence) for criminal behaviour.
Recorded crime
Crime that is recorded by the police. Not all reported crime is recorded.
Reported crime
Crime that is reported to the police. Not all crime is reported.
Self-fulfilling prophesy
People hear labels about themselves from people who are more powerful than they are. They come to believe the labels are true and then act as if they are true. Therefore the labels become true.
Self-report surveys
Surveys of the population which ask them to confess to crime they have committed for which they have not been caught.
