Definitions of CRIME!!

Question 1

What is social control?

Answer 1

Means by which society tries to ensure that its members behave as others expect them to. -Boundaries indicating acceptable and non behaviour.
-TO conform to laws, rules and norms

Question 2

What are the 2 types of social control, explain>

Answer 2

• Formal- Practiced by specific agencies- role in maintaining law and order

-Informal- How we are persuaded to conform by being taught what is acceptable and not. - socialised.

Question 3

What is formal social control practiced by?

Answer 3

Criminal justice system- government, police, courts, prisons.

Question 4

What is informal social control practiced by?

Answer 4

Agents of socialisation-
Family, education, peer groups, workplace, religion, mass media

Question 5

What are the 4 agents of social control?

Answer 5

• Legislature, Judiciary, police- enforce law and investigate, penal system

Question 6

What is the legislature?

Answer 6

Branch of government responsible for legislating- making laws
- House of commons + House of Lords= House of parliment

Question 7

What is the judiciary?

Answer 7

-Courts try those accused of crime- convict or sentence the guilty.
-Crown court- serious crime
-Magistrates courts- minor
-Variety of sanctions available for guilty

Question 8

What sanctions are available to the court to use on the guilty?

Answer 8

• Fine, probation, prison, community service, conditional discharge… TO NAME A FEW

Question 9

What is the penal system?

Answer 9

• Refers to the people and organisations that deal with offenders.
  -Prison and probation service

Question 10

What are 4 purposes of penal system?

Answer 10

• Punish guilty, provide retribution
• Rehabilitate, training, teaching
• Deter, warning to others
• To protect public from danger

Question 11

What are used to control and punish deviance, crime and delinquency?

Answer 11

• Sanctions, positive, negative, formal, informal
• Promote conformity

Question 12

3 types of sanctions involved in crime..

Answer 12

• fine- prison sentence- death

Question 13

Example of sanction in deviance..

Answer 13

-Comment to show disapproval such as teacher sending out pupil for misbehaving

Question 14

What is eccentricity?

Answer 14

Deviance that is tolerated rather than rewarded or sanctioned.

Question 15

What is deviance?

Answer 15

• Behaviour by individuals of social group that fails to conform to culturally expected norms of behaviour

Question 16

What is crime?

Answer 16

Formal act of deviance that violates statue law- breaks society’s formals laws and rules

Question 17

Why are deviance and crime described as relative? Depends on.. (5)

Answer 17

• No absolute way of defining these terms.
• Deviance is relation to a particular standard, standards are not fixed or absloute.
  -Depends on time, place, person (age gender, class), situation, culture (country)

Question 18

How does Howard Becker highlight social construction in labelling theory?

Answer 18

• No action in itself is deviant, it has to excite some social reaction from others. Depends upon who commits it, who sees it and what action is taken about it.

Question 19

What impacts the definition of a crime?

Answer 19

• Just or unjust- dog lisence
• time - Before industrialisation most serious crimes were religious in nature ( Blasphemy).

Question 20

Normative defintions?

Answer 20

• Commonsense definitions of something. Common set of shared values

Question 21

Relativistic definitions?

Answer 21

• Understand society is too complex for common sense understanding- not in total consensus

Question 22

What are the 3 types of deviance?

Answer 22

• Historical - considered deviant today may be normal in future- smoking, abortions, gay
• Cross cultural- Culturally determined- change overtime
• Situational- Depends on who is doing it and in what situation.

SOCIALLY DEFINED- SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION