AC 1.1 - crime VS deviance

• Norms


  Specific rules of expectations in a society about what is or is not acceptable behaviour
• Moral codes/Mores

  A code of ethics, which may be written down and explicit
• Values


  A shared and general set of principles about acceptable and unacceptable behaviours
• Criminal behaviour (legal definition)

  Any action that is forbidden by criminal law
• Criminal behaviour (social definition)

  Ways in which people in society determine behaviour to be acceptable or not
• Deviance

  Behaviour that differs from the norms of society
• Criminal/Deviant

  • Stealing a car: criminal
  • Owning 30 cats: deviant
  • Downloading illegal music: both
  • Theft of a bank: criminal
  • Fraud: criminal
  • Smoking too close to someone: deviant
• Formal sanctions


  Imposed by official organizations
• examples of Formal sanctions

  • The police will punish people for breaking the law
  • Fines
  • Financial bonuses
• Informal sanctions

  Not imposed by official organisations but may be imposed by the general society when unwritten rules/norms of behaviours are broken
• examples of Informal sanctions

  • There will be a disproval or challenge if you talk loudly in a library
  • Someone may refuse to attend your engagement party if they consider your choice of partner to be deviant
• Actus reus

  Refers to the guilty act (illegal behaviour)
• Mens rea

  Refers to a guilty mind (criminal intentions)
• You must have both actus reus and mens rea to be sanctioned formally
• example of norms

  society may value the experience of elders in society, norms refer to the ways in which it is and it not acceptable to greet them or behave in front of them.
• Example of Moral codes

  the police have a code of ethics which they must follow to uphold the respectable behaviour of the police
• examples of values

  that you accept and respect people of all faiths