Crime is behaviour that

breaks the formal written laws

of a society. If someone
commits a crime they can be
arrested, charged and
prosecuted. Actions can be
illegal but not deviant.
Deviance is behaviour which
does not comply with the
dominant norms of a specific
society. If people are seen as
deviant it can lead to
negative sanctions such as
being told off or ridiculed.
Gary, walked through his local
library whilst talking loudly on
his mobile phone.

This is legally deviant as he is

not breaking any law, he is just
acting socially unacceptable.
Robert, punched a pregnant
lady in the face.

This is illegally deviant as he

committed an assault, the
fact that he punched a
pregnant lady also makes the
mater worse.
 Sam, illegally downloads
thousands of songs for her
mp3 player.

Sam is a criminal as she is

breaking the copyright act. She is
not a deviant as what she is doing
is not hurting anyone.
 VALUE; InArab culture family honour is
dependant on female purity.
CRIMINAL Social Code DEVIANT

Public nudity Separation of sexes

Taking photos of
Sex outside marriage Modesty in dress
women
Homosexuality Marriage
Talking to random Jobs for women at Showing thighs,
women in the street home or in the care shoulders, cleavage
Public displays of industry - Nurses, and midriff
affection Teachers
  Official Statistics; a set of
statistics generated from data
gathered by the government or
other official organisations. Often
used as secondary data in social
research.
 REASONS WHY NOT ALL CRIMES ARE
INCLUDED IN THE OFFICIAL CRIME STATISTICS
 Detection; Is a crime detected? If a crime
is observed and identified as a crime, the
police may be informed. However, if the
crime has not been detected it cannot be
reported to the police neither can it be
included in official statistics. This is the
reason many crimes occur but go
undetected.
 WHY DO NOT ALL  Victim of crime is
VICTIMS OF CRIME criminal themselves
 Victim suffered no loss
REPORT CRIME?
 Victim does not
 Blackmail consider crime worthy
 Embarrassment  Victim feels crime is too
 Fear personal
 Lack of confidence in  Institutional crime may
force be swept under carpet
 Hassle due to fear of bad press.
 Victim Surveys
 Surveys the public asking them to report
any crimes committed against them and
whether or not they reported these crimes.
Advantages Disadvantages
May uncover hidden
Not all crimes reported
figure of crime
Participants may lie
Local geo-graphic data
generated In some cases victims
can not be questioned
 British Crime Survey
 A victim survey conducted annually by a
team of researchers at the Home Office.
The BCS measures the amount of crime in
England and Wales by asking the public
about their experiences with crime over the
last year.
 Self Report Surveys
 Self Report Surveys of the population
which ask them to confess to crime they
have committed but for which they were
not caught.
Advantages Disadvantages
Participants may lie

May uncover the hidden They can not do anything

figure of crime about the crimes
respondents were not
caught for.
DESPERATION
 Nature
 In 1876, Lombroso conducted research into
large numbers of prisoners. He believed that
criminals could be identified by visual traits as
they were less evolved than ‘normal’ citizens.
This theory is no longer accepted.
 Hormones; Stress caused by menstruation can
cause women to act irrationally, 80% of female
offenders committed their crimes during the
menstruation period.
 Relationships;
 Nature

 Hormones; Stress caused by menstruation can

cause women to act irrationally, 80% of female
offenders committed their crimes during the
menstruation period.
 Nature
Relationships; Early childhood deprivation,
lack of emotional security and secure
attachment in childhood can lead to people
developing criminal personalities as they crave
affection and attention.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
Peer Groups & Subcultures; Some sociologists
pin criminal activity on influences from other
parties - mainly peers - known as peer pressure.
Being in a group gives us a sense of belonging
and acceptance, for some these feelings are
so important, so much so that they risk
breaking the law and being caught, just to
remain in a certain social circle. As the
members of the group feel that illegal activities
are acceptable they are classified as a
negative subculture.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
Socialisation; People who do not receive a
decent level of socialisation during their
childhood, do not know how to act
appropriately in society as they can not
comprehend the norms and values. This may
lead to them braking laws / acting deviantly
because they know no better.
 Another way socialisation can affect whether
people go on to commit crimes, is if a person is
brought up with a criminal role model -
meaning they developed criminal values.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
Socialisation; People who do not receive a
decent level of socialisation during their
childhood, do not know how to act
appropriately in society as they can not
comprehend the norms and values. This may
lead to them braking laws / acting deviantly
because they know no better.
 Another way socialisation can affect whether
people go on to commit crimes, is if a person is
brought up with a criminal role model -
meaning they developed criminal values.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
 Labelling; Labelling is giving someone in
society a ‘tag’. Labelling someone a criminal /
negatively can have serious consequences on
their identity, if the label sticks and the person is
viewed as a criminal by everyone then they
may develop self-fulfilling prophecies and
break the law as it’s all they think they can
achieve.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
 Relative Deprivation; When a person is
brought up amongst poverty and do not own
luxuries such as a mobile phone or computer,
they may act illegally to obtain such desirables.
 This is a Marxist explanation of crime as it is
caused by social inequality; the working class
seeing the rich with personal possessions and
wanting them but not being able to obtain
them legitimately.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
 Relative Deprivation; When a person is
brought up amongst poverty and do not own
luxuries such as a mobile phone or computer,
they may act illegally to obtain such desirables.
 This is a Marxist explanation of crime as it is
caused by social inequality; the working class
seeing the rich with personal possessions and
wanting them but not being able to obtain
them legitimately.
 Nurture: Sociological Explanations Of Crime
 Media; The media reports on crime in a
selective way. Amplification of deviancy is
when moral panic is created by the mass
media, which then causes a frenzy of worry,
and the police take drastic action to deal with
it, starting the cycle all over again.
 INFORMAL AGENTS FORMAL AGENTS
Parents School
School Teachers Employer
Media
Charity Groups
Legal System
Sub-cultures /
peers
Religion
Celebrity Role Police Officers
Models
Why Males Commit More Crime Than Females

 Different Socialisation Processes;

Boys are more likely to be taught
values associated with toughness
and aggression. Whereas girls adopt
qualities and expectations which see
them abide by the law.
Why Males Commit More Crime Than Females

 Different Opportunities to Commit

Crime; Generally teenage girls are
subjected to restrictions and close
supervision and then in later life they
are usually occupied with
maintaining the home and caring for
the family.
Why Males Commit More Crime Than Females

 Social Control; Men may constrain

women into ‘home’ lives limiting their
freedom due to the care of the
family being imposed on them.
 The media creates expectations of
women too.
Why Males Commit More Crime Than Females

 Chivalry Thesis; This is a common

belief that the male-dominated
police force and courts, are easier
on women due to them not being
considered a threat. Whereas a man
may be arrested, police may let
women off with a warning.
Why Males Commit More Crime Than Females

 Inaccurate Statistics; Statistics

which show men commit more crime
than women could be
representative of the labelling of
men as criminals and police going
out to look for male offenders
ignoring female criminals.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Institutional Racism; Police officials

belonging to certain ethnic groups may
set out to punish members of other
ethnic groups whilst protecting their
own.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Relative Deprivation; Foreign workers

are usually left with low paying manual
jobs, thus meaning they may not be
able to afford material goods and so
obtain these desirables illegally.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Labelling; If a police officer labels a

particular ethnic group as criminals he
will go out and arrest more criminals
belonging to that ethnic group, whilst
ignoring other crimes.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Racism; White police officers may

purposely prosecute or dig deeper into
crimes involving different ethnic groups
due to a racial hatred for such a group.
This may also mean they ignore cases
where a certain ethnic minority has
fallen victim eg. Steven Lawrence.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Racism; White police officers may

even frame Black or Asian criminals with
crimes they did not commit.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Media; Creates the moral panic and

then promotes labelling in the force.
Reasons why some ethnic groups seem to commit
more crime

 Inaccuracy of Figures; The figures

could just be a reflection of racism
within the force.
 Reasons why the poor commit more crime.

 Poor Socialisation
Relative Deprivation
Anomie; Society does not provide enough
opportunities for people to succeed,
therefore some turn their back on society
and cause trouble
Education; More likely to be in low sets, get
low paying job, struggle for money, so turn to
illegal ways of obtaining it.
 WHITE COLLAR CRIME

 White Colour Crime; Involves middle class

people, who commit crimes during work
hours.
 4 Main Types:
 Occupational Crime
 Proffessional Crime
 Corporate Crime
 Computer Crime
 WHITE COLLAR CRIME

 White Colour Crime is difficult to deal with

as;
 Judges Are Often From Similar Social
Backgrounds To White Collar Criminals
 Compared to Burglary and Assault it is not
dangerous to the public.
 There are usually no victims and no one
person is impaired
The media does not show WCC as serious