Crime

• Agents/agencies of social control - Institutions that influence the process of social control e.g. family, media - the institutions in society that constrain (restrict) people’s behaviour
• Agenda setting (and the media) - The ability of the media to focus public attention on particular topics (eg immigration) and therefore direct debate and discussion around these topics
• Alienation - Marxists - under capitalism many workers are cut off from their work as they have no control over production and they never use the product. You feel disconnected with the end result. 
• Anomie - A society which has a breakdown of society’s norms (normlessness) - caused by too much crime
• Antisocial behaviour - Actions that harm or lack consideration for the well-being of others.
• Chivalry thesis - The idea that a male dominated police force and criminal justice system treats female offenders more lenient because of their gender. - the idea that the legal system are more lenient in how they treat women
• Community service - Work done to benefit the community eg litter picking used as a form of legal punishment for lesser crimes
• Computer crime - Behaviour that goes against the written laws of a country which involves the use of technology. 
• Conformity - Adhering (changing) to the norms and values of a society, following the conventional (normal) means and goals.
• Corporate crime - Criminal behaviour committed by employees on behalf of a business or organisation to further their gain. Not about the individual but the corporation. (a crime that is committed in the interest of a business not for one person e.g. health and safety violations)
• Control theory - An approach that focuses on why most people conform. There are rewards for conforming and you are seen as behaving rationally. Human beings are neither naturally good nor bad but will make rational decisions to turn to crime when the advantages outweigh the negatives - how people are controlled
• Crime - Behaviour that goes against the written/formal law system of a country. It is punishable by law e.g. murder or theft
• Crime rate - A measure of crime in terms of the number of crimes committed and the level of criminal activity in society based on crimes recorded by the police
• Criminal justice system - The various agencies involved in law enforcement such as the police and courts.
• Criminal subculture - A social group whose members values and behaviour involves breaking the law
• Dark figure of crime - The unknown amount of criminal activity that isn't reported or recorded by the police. Any crime that doesn’t appear in official statistics as it is either unreported or unrecorded.
• Data protection - Legal control over access to and use of data.
• Deviance - Behaviour that goes against the expected/dominant norms and values of society e.g. wearing a hoodie with someone else, listening to music through headphones with someone else.
• Delinquency - Crime committed by young people/antisocial crime
• Deviancy amplification - The exaggeration of a particular social issue as a consequence of media coverage
• Deviant career - Becker. A process that developed over time as the individual progresses through various stages of deviant behaviour, accepting and adopting external social labels
• Folk devils - A group in society that’s villainised (made to look bad) by the media. They are at the centre of the moral panics. 
• Formal and informal social control:

  Formal - When our behaviour is controlled through organisations that exist to enforce order - constraints (restrictions) on people’s behaviour based on the written laws and rules. It is the way that the state (government) and all parts of it regulate behaviour. 

  Informal - constraints on people behaviour based on social processes such as approval and disapproval. It is based on social pressure and encourages conformity.
• Gender and criminality - Men are more likely to commit crime according to official statistics
• Identity theft - Using the identity of another to obtain credit loans etc
• Indictable offence - A serious criminal offence such as murder is tried in the Crown Court.
• Institutional racism - Organisational procedures, practices and attitudes that either intentionally or unintentionally discriminate against a minority ethnic group. 
• Judiciary - The system of courts that interprets and applies the law in a country. 
• Labelling theory - A label as applied to an individual influences both their behaviour and the way that others respond to them
• Master status - A label has become the most important thing about the person, they become known for this status
• Magistrate - A form of judge/court which deals with minor offences.
• Media amplification - Media exaggeration of the significance of a social issue by over-reporting it.
• Miscarriage of justice - When a failure occurs within the criminal justice system, especially one which results in the conviction of an innocent person
• Moral panic - Heightened public concern created by media coverage at an event
• Non-indictable offence - Less serious crimes such as damage to property that is tried in a Magistrates Court
• Occupational crime - Crime carried out by individuals at work and ranges from minor theft of an organisation’s property (type of fraud)
• Official crime statistics - Existing sources of qualitative data on crime compiled by the governmental departments. Data collected by the government
• Police caution - A formal warning given by the police to anyone aged 10 years or over who has admitted that they are guilty of a minor crime
• Pluralism - An approach that argues that a range of views, interests and opinions exist in society. There isn’t one group that dominates the political process.
• Probation - The suspension of a prison sentence; convicted prisoners are allowed to leave prison and enter the wider community under supervision, provided that they follow certain conditions set by the court