The Social Construction Of Crime Flashcards
What the four laws
Time
Place
Culture
Circumstance
What is the social construct of crime
The idea that society decides what actions are criminal and which are not
Different societies have different views on how crime is defined
Actions may be criminalised, decriminalised or legalised depending on changing social attitudes
How laws change according to time
Time- certain acts maybe criminalised legalised and decriminalised over time
Examples- homosexuality, death penalty and vagrancy
Why might laws change over time
Increase or decline in religious belief e.g in secular societies where religion has less influence there is more tolerance of sexual diversity
Greater public understanding/ tolerance
How was homosexuality changed over time
Made a crime in 1885
1967 sexual offence act legalised at 21 1994 at 18 2000 at 16 Civil partnerships were permitted in 2004 2014- same sex marriages allowed
Successful campaigns by homosexual law reform society
Vagrancy changed over time
Criminalised by vagrancy act 1824
By 20th century fallen out of use therefore it is rare that it was prosecuted
However in the last 10 years prosecutions for vagrancy have increased
How has the death penalty changed over time
Abolished in 1965 as people were found wrongly convicted - breach of the right to life
Used for murder and treason
And corporal punishment was abolished in 1967
How’s laws change according to place
Place- the same criminal offences are not necessarily in place throughout the world or even policed in the same way in England and Wales
Example: cannabis
How does cannabis change according to place ?
Cannabis- illegal in England (class B drug); legal in some US states such as Colorado Differential law enforcement in England e.g Durham police force
Why does laws change according to place
Medical advances- medicinal cannabis oil can help people manage pain; epilepsy and the billy caldwell case
Changing social attitudes- 48% of British people support legalising recreational cannabis use and only 24% strongly disagree
Changing policy priorities- Durham police
How do laws change according to culture
Different culture view crimes differently even at the same point in time
Examples: polygamy, adultery, homosexuality
Polygamy
When a man has one then one wife at a time.
It is crime in most counties however, legal in Muslim countries: India, Malaysia, Singapore, Phillippines
Legal due to religious reasons
Homosexuality
Sexual acts between members of the same sex
Legal in Uk, Europe and South America
Illegal- many religions condemn homosexuality
Why does laws change according to culture ?
The Quran permits Muslim men to take up to 4 wives
Not committing adultery is one of the Ten commandments shared by Christianity, Islam, Judaism
Adultery
Sexual act between two people one or both of whom are married to someone else
Illegal- many Muslim countries and some Christian African countries as they condemn it
Legal- most countries including the UK and India
How laws change according to circumstances
The same actions maybe seen differently depending on the situation
Examples: homicide, typifications, ACR (age of criminal responsibility)
Why do laws change in different circumstances
Impact of moral panic
High profile Cases e.g John venables and Robert Thompson
Age of responsibility
Children below a certain age are unlikely to understand the full meaning of the act they have committed
ACR in the UK- 10 years in England and Wales : 12 in Scotland
Youth courts can not send anyone to prison only detention centres
Differential enforcement of the law
Moral panics- minor offences committed in during the London riots more likely to recieve custodial sentences
Typifications(Chambliss)- police enforced the law more leniently against middle class ‘saints’ and more harshly towards working class ‘roughnecks’
Typifications(cicourel)- police more likely to regard working class with suspicion rsuleting in more arrests
Typifications(piliavin and briar)- situational factors including class, age, ethnicity, attitude towards the officer, time and place play a large part in decisions to stop or arrest
