Crime and Deviance

Question 1

What are crimes?

Answer 1

Acts of behaviour that breaks the formal, written laws of a given society - you go against the means of formal social control

Question 2

What are deviant acts?

Answer 2

Behaviour that goes against the norms and value consensus of a society – you go against the means of informal social control.

Question 3

What are 3 types of deviance?

Answer 3

Situational
Cultural
Historical

Question 4

What do most believe the concepts of crime and deviance are?

Answer 4

Socially constructed

Question 5

Both crime and deviance are said to be…

Answer 5

Relative - meaning what is considered criminal or deviant will vary according to…
1) Time
2) Culture
3) Circumstance

Question 6

Plummer 1979

Answer 6

The same act may be deviant or criminal in some cases but not others

Question 7

Relativity of time example

Answer 7

Alcohol consumption in 1920s US vs US alcohol consumption today (21+)

Question 8

Relativity of culture example

Answer 8

Women exposing legs in islamic societies vs western women wearing shorts and skirts

Question 9

Relativity of circumstance example

Answer 9

Killing a person in cold blood vs killing an enemy in the course of battle

Question 10

What’s seen as deviant to the wider population of a nation, may not be deviant within…

Answer 10

Subcultures

Question 11

What is the opposite of deviance?

Answer 11

Conformity: behaviour which fits into the norms and values of a society

Question 12

How is conformity achieved?

Answer 12

1) Social order – general conformity to shared norms and values leading to a peaceful society
2) Social control – the processes by which people are persuaded to obey the rules and conform

Question 13

Who is formal social control carried out by?

Answer 13

The government, armed forces, the Criminal Justice System and public authorities

Question 14

Who is informal control carried out by?

Answer 14

Agencies like the education system, the family and peers, the media and religion

Question 15

Formal vs informal social control

Answer 15

We may be less aware of informal control, but it is arguably more effective than formal social control

Question 16

Althusser

Answer 16

Control of the proletariat is maintained by…
Repressive State Apparatus
Ideological State Apparatus - socializes us into accepting the capitalist ideology, informal social control – family, media, education and religion