Lesson 1

    Cards (37)

    • Moral panic
      A 'condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests' (Stanley Cohen, 1973)
    • Moral panic
      • Mods and Rockers (1960s)
    • Impact of moral panic
      • Makes the public think the issue is worse than it is in reality, brings about a more severe reaction to the issue and people involved, and an unreasonable desire for justice
    • Changing public concerns and attitudes about crime
      • Mods and Rockers violence
      • Terrorism (London, Manchester and Barcelona)
      • Knife-attack crime
    • Terrorist act
      Rise in the threat level (severe to critical following the Manchester Attack in May 2021)
    • Islamophobia
      A dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims
    • Knife crime
      Knife amnesty
    • Generally, the public's perception is that crime is on the increase
    • When the media report a high volume of crime stories, this impacts on the public - creates a false belief about the amount of crime
    • Crime Survey of England and Wales 2017 reported that crime was decreasing
    • Impact of public perception of crime trends
      • Anxiety and stress about becoming a victim of crime and the repercussions
    • Stereotyping of criminals
      As a result of media reports, the public form stereotypes of criminals
    • Stereotyping of criminals leads to a mistrust of those who fit within the stereotypical image, and can cause anger, fear and harsher sentences
    • The media has an impact on the levels of response and punishment of certain crimes

      The impact is to produce disproportionate sentences that fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime
    • The response to crime
      To show that crime of this nature will not be tolerated and to set a deterrent punishment to prevent similar conduct
    • Certain major criminal events are world changing, they produce new priorities and policies
    • 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001
      • Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 (allowed the bank accounts of suspected terrorists to be frozen)
      • Counter Terrorism Act 2008 (gives the police more powers to take finger prints and DNA samples)
      • Heightened security at airports, tube and train stations
      • Production of a counter-terrorism/prevent strategy to challenge extremism in all aspects of our lives
    • Impact of 9/11 attacks
      • Far-reaching: travel, education and curbing of Civil Liberties
    • Social definition of crime
      Crime is a label from 'social interaction' or a wrong against the community. If a society has said that an act is a crime, then it becomes one. Crimes have consequences that are detrimental in some way to the community at large or one or more people within it.
    • Some crimes are universally disapproved of in our society, especially sex offences (especially those involving children)
    • Some acts are crimes in some countries but not in others, e.g. forced marriages exist in some countries like Bangladesh where children must become child brides
    • Legal definition of crime
      Behaviour that would break the law and for which you are punished by the legal system. A crime must have two elements: an Actus Reus (the guilty act) and a Mens Rea (the guilty mind).
    • Offences of strict liability do not require a Mens Rea (e.g. food and hygiene regulations)
    • Self-defence might mean a person is not found guilty
    • Non-court sanctions against criminals
      • Cautions
      • Conditional Cautions
      • Penalty Notices
    • Court sanctions against criminals
      • Custodial Sentences
      • Community Sentences
      • Fines
      • Discharge
    • Types of criminal acts
      • Fatal offences against the person
      • Non-fatal offences against the person
      • Offences against property
      • Sexual offences
      • Public order offences
      • Drug offences
    • Deviance
      Behaviour that goes against the dominant social norms of a specific group or society which causes some kind of critical reaction or disapproval
    • Norms
      Social expectations that guide behaviour and explain why people act in the way that they do. Norms keep in check deviant behaviour and can vary between cultures.
    • Moral codes
      Morals or good ways of behaving. Breaking a moral code would generally be considered serious in society, e.g. murder.
    • Values
      Rules shared by most people in a given culture. They are more general guidelines than norms, e.g. respecting the elderly.
    • Informal sanctions against deviance
      • Frowning upon behaviour
      • Name calling
      • Ignoring behaviour
      • Labelling behaviour
      • Parents grounding a child
    • There are more formal sanctions such as fines and imprisonment, which may be more appropriate for some deviant acts
    • Informal sanctions in the classroom environment
      • Teacher keeping a student back after school as detention, classmates laughing at the punishment
    • Forms of deviant behaviour

      • Admired Behaviour (deviant but considered good or admirable)
      • Odd Behaviour (deviant by being odd or different from what is considered the norm)
      • Bad Behaviour (deviant because it is bad)
    • Some acts may be considered deviant but not criminal (e.g. cross-dressing), some acts are classed as criminal but may not be deviant (e.g. illegally downloading music), and some acts are considered both criminal and deviant (e.g. murder)
    • Explanations of the terms crime and deviance are featured heavily in exam questions, with an emphasis on providing examples to support answers
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