AC1.1-2

• legal definition of crime

  A crime is an act that violates the criminal law and is punishable with a jail term, a fine, and or some other sanction
• what must courts consider with crime

  -actus reus

  -mens rea
• actus reus


  guilty act
• mens rea


  guilty mind
• exceptions of punishments


  -strict liability

  -self-defence
• strict liability


  The legal responsibility for damage or injury even if you are not negligent, like health and safety, no mens rea
• self-defence


  Acting to prevent harm to yourself or others
• social definition of crime


  Behaviour that violates the norms or social mores of society, can vary
• summary offences


  Minor criminal offences, by magistrates
• indictable offences


  Serious criminal offences, by judge/jury
• non-court sanctions


  cautions, conditional cautions, penalty notices
• court sanctions


  custodial sentences, community sentences, fines, discharge
• deviance definition


  Goes against the norms of society but is not punishable by law, causing diapproval
• norms


  rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviour of its members, like wearing dark clothes at funeral, what's expected
• moral codes


  Good ways of behaving, breaking moral code would generally be considered serious in society e.g murder, what's right
• values


  moral beliefs, what shoukd happen, respect elderly
• Formal sanctions against deviance


  fines or even imprisonment may be appropriate for some deviant acts, by police
• informal sanctions for deviance

  rules not formally written, by shown disapproval to, like refusing to speak to someone
• social construction


  Something that is defined by society and that changes according to time and place
• what happened to the age of criminlaity

  lowered to 10 in 1998
• Polygamy

  -definition

  -UK legality

  -world legality

  -why different


  -more than one spouse at a time

  -illegal in UK=bigamy, up to 7 years

  -polygny[man with wives]=legal in 58 countries

  -legal is Muslim majority countries=India, Malaysia, but not in Turkey

  -practised as religion and tradition
• Cannabis use

  -definition

  -UK legality

  -world legality

  -why different

  -continued use of cannabis

  -illegal in UK-class B drug, 5 years prison, 14 for selling

  -legal in Jamaica, Canada

  -Portugal decriminalised-warning

  -religion-Rastafarian, or medicine-relieves pain
• Adultery

  -definition

  -UK legality

  -world legality

  -why different

  -A sexual act between a married person and someone other than their marriage partner

  -legal in UK

  -illegal in 21 US states

  -illegal in Muslim and Christian majority countries

  -stopped crime in India in 2018

  -differs by religion
• Homosexuality

  -definition

  -UK legality

  -world legality

  -why different

  -sexual acts between same genders

  -legal in Europe, North and South America

  -male homo=illegal in 72 countries, female=45

  -in 6 countries= death penalty

  -Muslim majority countries, Iran

  -Russia bans its promotion

  -tradition, religion
• Capital punishments changing overtime, dates

  -death penalty

  -1861=Criminal law and consolidation act=only 4 capital offences

  -1955= Ruth Ellis last woman

  -1964=last hanging

  -1969=all capital punishment abolished
• why capital punishments changed overtime

  -breech of human rights

  -if there's a miscarriage of justice, nothing can be done

  -should suffer prison-death easy way out
• how homosexuality changed overtime, dates

  -1855=made illegal

  -1968=declassified as an illness

  -1967-80=legalised in England, Wales Scotland

  -2013=gay marriage legalised
• why homosexuality changed overtime

  -politicians[Roy Jenkins]

  -human rights

  -Wolfdenn report

  -campaigns
• why is manslaughter charged

  -diminished responsibility

  -loss of control
• diminished responsibility


  when someone is not in a state to be considered responsible for their own actions
• moral panic


  a widespread, but disproportionate, reaction to a form of deviance, caused by media
• why are laws different by circumstances


  -moral panic

  -stereotypes

  -homicide

  -criminal age of responsibility
• forms of deviance


  -Admired behaviour

  -Odd behaviour

  -Bad behaviour
• admired behaviour


  deviant but considered good or admiral, e.g. saving a life while putting own at risk, as most people would not do so.
• odd behaviour


  deviant by being odd or different from what is considered the norm, e.g. living with an excessive number of cats.
• bad behaviour


  deviant because it is bad, e.g. assaulting a pensioner.