Crime and Deviance

Question 1

Agent of social control

Answer 1

Individual or group hat is responsible for ensuring members of society conform to socially acceptable behaviour.

Question 2

Anomie

Answer 2

A situation where large numbers of people fail to follow generally accepted values, instead adopting various deviant forms of behaviour, such as theft.

Question 3

ASBO

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

British Crime Survey

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Capitalist society

Answer 5

An economic system where the production of goods is organised for profit and sold to a free market.

Question 6

CCTV

Answer 6

Closed Circuit Television, a television system often used for surveillance.

Question 7

Chivalry thesis

Answer 7

The belief that the police and courts, because they are male dominated, are easier on women.

Question 8

Crime

Answer 8

Behaviour that breaks the law.

Question 9

Dark figure of crime

Answer 9

A large amount of criminal activity never appears in the crime statistics.

Question 10

Deviance

Answer 10

Behaviour that does not conform to the dominant norms of a specific society.

Question 11

Identity theft

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Indictable offences

Answer 12

Serious crimes, generally those for which an accused person may be sent to prison if found guilty.

Question 13

Injustice

Answer 13

When a person is accused of a crime of which they are not guilty.

Question 14

Institutional racism

Answer 14

Occurs when the everyday practices and procedures of an organisation, for example, the police, lead to discrimination against ethnic groups either intentionally or unintentionally.

Question 15

Ladette

Answer 15

Young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions; a moral panic of the 1990s.

Question 16

Non-indictable offences

Answer 16

Less serious crimes such as parking offences that do not lead to prison sentences.

Question 17

Official crime statistics

Answer 17

The way crime is officially measured based on statistics collected by the Home Office.

Question 18

Peer group pressure

Answer 18

A group of a person’s own age who are important to them and often influence them to behave in a particular way.

Question 19

Police

Answer 19

Agents of social control with the power to enforce the law.

Question 20

Prosecution

Answer 20

Legal proceedings against a defendant (the defence) for criminal behaviour.

Question 21

Recorded crime

Answer 21

Crime that is recorded by the police. Not all reported crime is recorded.

Question 22

Reported crime

Answer 22

Crime that is reported to the police. Not all crime is reported.

Question 23

Self-fulfilling prophesy

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Self-report surveys

Answer 24

Surveys of the population which ask them to confess to crime they have committed for which they have not been caught.