Key concepts

Question 1

What is crime?

Answer 1

Breaking the law/doing something illegal. E.g: murder.

Question 2

What is deviance?

Answer 2

Deviating from imposed social norms (non-conformity) E.g: queue jumping.

Question 3

Is crime socially constructed?

Answer 3

Yes, because laws change over time, therefore what we call ‘crime’ changes. E.g: abortion, homosexuality, divorce.

• Newburn = crime is a label attached to behaviour prohibited by a state; formally punished.
• Incest not a crime until 1908.

Question 4

What does it mean when we say ‘crime is relative’?

Answer 4

Crime is dependent on the time, place, society (paradigm of time). No absolute definition of crime as it only exists in relation to cultural norms.