Intro To Crime And Deviance Flashcards
What is the definition of deviance?
Any behaviour that violates social norms and is usually of sufficient severity to warrant disapproval from the majority of society.
Deviance can be criminal or non criminal
What constitutes a crime?
An illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government, more so a gross violation of law.
What percentage of drivers speed on 30mph roads according to the government department of transport?
Over 52%.
Are crime and deviance universal concepts?
No, they are social constructs and are cultural, locality, historical, and age relative.
Although definitions of crime/deviance are agreed around the world, examples are not
How do cultural differences affect crime and deviance?
Some crimes are culturally relative
Adultery isnt illegal in most countries around the world however its still illegal in Taiwan (up to a year in prison)
Give an example of a law that is universally recognized as illegal.
Murder (with exceptions in certain tribes).
Certain laws are illegal no matter where you are in the world
Why is context important when considering deviance?
Context is necessary in terms of geographical location, place, time, and societal norms and values.
Also known as contextuality
How does generational perspective affect the perception of crime and deviance?
The age of a person plays a key part in whether their behaviour is considered criminal or deviant.
For criminality, in the UK age for criminal responsibility is 10 yrs old
- for deviance, behaviours that are considered acceptable for a younger person may be considered deviant in an elderly person
What is the legal age of consent in each UK Nation?
16 years old.
How does history affect crime and deviance?
Both are historically relative
What may have been considered deviant in the past is no longer so
- acts that were once legal have become illegal and vice versa
How has the perception of slavery changed historically?
Once considered a sign of wealth and privilege, today it’s illegal across the world.
What significant change in law occurred in the UK in 1991?
Rape within marriage was made illegal.
What is the role of ideological state apparatus?
Maintain the role of bourgeoisie by controlling people’s ideas, values, and beliefs.
Media, for example, reproduces class inequality by transmitting ideas from generation to generation and failing the working class deliberately
What are the two apparatuses that Althusser argues the state consists of?
- Repressive state apparatuses
- Ideological state apparatuses.
RSA: maintain the rule of bourgeoisie by force such as police, army and courts
What role did media play in the BLM movement?
Media was key to promote ideological control around the riots and ideologies of conformity.
When this broke down, police and policies effectively went to criminalise protests
