1.1

• norms are the normal behaviours that are expected to be exhibited by members of society like brushing your teeth twice a day
• values is morals and ethics and what is right and wrong to a person
• all laws are norms, but not all norms are laws
• if one breaks a norm one is considered deviant
• a value has a special relationship to a norm, values re specific cultural goals, norms follow these values
• a norm prescribes the behaviou,r a value justifies that behaviour, its the reason why some actions are more approved than others
• norm is going to work, value is earning money for family
• criminal norm= theft/fraud, value= earn money to provide for family
• we need sanctions in society to prevent crime and punish criminals
• an informal sanction is being told off, formal sanction is arrest or house arrest
• crime is s social construction, crimes are defined in different countries in different ways, they have no objective reality and are constructed by society
• norms are the products of social construction
• behaviour can be abnormal or normal depending on time and place
• it was legal to take heroin up until 1920
• indoor smoking became illegal in 2007
• incest was legal until 1908
• abortion was legalised in 1967
• attempted suicide was legalised in 1961
• any male homosexual behaviour was illegal until 1967, age of consent lowered to 18 in 79 and 16 in 2000
• prohibition usa act was from 1920 to 1933
• heroin was legal up until around 1920, after this the use was restricted and could be prescribed by a doctor until the 1960's
• different cultures have different expectations of appropriate behaviour
• some crimes are legal in some countries but not others for example, euthanasia, homosexuality and FGM
• the definition of crime changes to reflect societies changing norms and values, we can gain insight into socially constructed nature of crime by looking at how certain behaviours were treated
• the 1960's are often referred to as the permissive age, this was intended to convey what was perceived to be the general loosening of moral codes
• laws are applied differently due to circumstances like time and place, for example you can be naked at home but not in the street
• how laws are applied differ due to circumstances, if a person is below the age of criminal responsibility its not considered a crime, mental health can make people elegible for a lesser or a less harsh sentence
• uk criminal responsibility age is ten years old