what is crime
an act or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by the law
legal definition of a crime
act that causes physical or psycological harm, damage or loss of property and is punishable by the law
social definition of crime
act which goes against societys norms values and moral codes
what is deviance
something which goes agaisnt societys norms and values and diverges against socially accepted values
formal mechanisms of social control
when organisations use law enforcement mechanisms and sanctions such as fines and imprisonment
informal mechanisms of social control
methods that are used by society to put pressure on individuals to behave in a certain way, such as peer pressure and bystander intervention
what are positive sanctions
rewards given for conforming to norms
what are negative sanctions
actual or threatening punishments
what is delinquency
minor crimes especially committed by younger people
what is the actus reus
the guilty act
what is the mens rea
the guilty mind
whats the ‘but for’ rule
but for your actions, e.g. but if you wasnt drinking would you have crashed
whats the strict liability rule
crimes which require no proof of mens rea as already proved e.g. speeding
name three types of defences
- intoxication
2.insanity
3.automatism
4.consent
5.self-defense
6.diminished responsibility
7.loss of control
8.lawful excuse
9.duress
10.infancy
11.necessity
what is insanity
the defence must prove at the time of the crime the offender was acting under a defect of reason from a disease of the mind
what is duress
the defence must prove the offender was forced to commit the crime and they must prove they were being controlled at the time the crime was committed
whats intoxication as a form of defense
defense must prove that the offender was so intoxicated they had no intent to commit the crime or the act and could n ot understand the nature of their actions
whats the age of criminal responsibility for england
10
age of responsibility in wales
10
whats the peak age for someone to commit crime
17
what age does crime rates go down and why
25 as brain fully develops and before this there is alot of hormonal instability e.g. testosterone
whats a formal sanction
punishable by law
three examples of court sanctions
custodial sentence
community service
-unpaid work
-probation order
-curfew
-anger management
-drug/alcohol treatment
-community pay back
-fine
-discharge
.conditional or absolute
three examples of police sanctions
caution (age 10+)
conditional caution
pentalty notice
