Social construction of crime

Question 1

What is a crime?

Answer 1

Any act that violates the law and is punishable. Its formally punished e.g. prison, fines etc. For an act to be a crime it needs to 2 elements: actus reas (guilty act), and mens rea (guilty mind). An example of a crime that is formally punished is murder.

Question 2

What is deviance?

Answer 2

An act that goes against the norms of society, earning disapproval from others. Deviant acts can be criminal ( e.g. murder, burglary) or non-criminal ( e.g. shouting at a funeral, not holding the door open for someone). Deviance is punished informally so punishments can include being told off, being labelled and being frowned upon.

Question 3

What is moral panic?

Answer 3

Moral panic is a term first coined by Stanley Cohen that describes the what happens when the media hyperobilise a crime.

Moral panic is created when the media over exaggerate a crime, making it seem like it occurs way more than it actually does. The spreads fear among the public as they begin to believe that they are at risk of the crime happening to them.

Question 4

Why did Stanley Cohen come up with moral panic?

Answer 4

He witnessed the clashes that took place between the mods and rockers. He realised that the media highly over exaggerated the events that took place that day, inciting fear in the public.

Question 5

2 modern day examples of moral panic:

Answer 5

knife crime and terrorism.

Question 6

Folk devil?

Answer 6

A person of bad influence on society.

Question 7

What is deviancy amplification? textbook definition

Answer 7

A process often performed by the media, in which the extent and seriousness of deviant behaviour is exaggerated, creating a great awareness and interest in deviance.

Question 8

process of deviancy amplification

Answer 8

-> policy change
media report -> moral panic
->groups are targeted ->
self - fulfilling prophecy