Crime and Deviance - GCSE Sociology AQA

• Crime


  An illegal act punishable by law
• Deviance


  Behaviour that does not conform to a society's rules and norms, and is disapproved of by most people in that particular society
• Some deviant acts are also against the law, but not all deviant behaviour is illegal
• Some illegal acts are not necessarily considered deviant by everyone
• Deviant behaviour


  • Using a fake ID to get into a club
  • Sitting next to a stranger on an empty bus
  • Stealing a jumper from a charity shop
  • Reading a partner's text messages
  • Smoking cannabis in the cinema
  • Helping a friend to commit suicide
• Deviance may be mild or more extreme
• Mild deviance


  • Telling a little lie
  • Parking illegally
• Extreme deviance


  • Behaviour or beliefs that are so far outside the norms that they generate very strong negative reactions from others, e.g. being extremely heavily tattooed or pierced, claiming to have been abducted by aliens
• Deviance is socially defined - whether an act is seen as deviant depends on the social setting and how others react to it
• What is considered deviant can change over time and vary between cultures
• Historical changes in what is considered deviant

  • Human sacrifice in Aztec civilisation
  • Suicide by Kamikaze pilots in WWII seen as heroic
  • Attitudes to sex outside marriage, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, smoking changing in UK since WWII
• Cross-cultural variations in what is considered deviant

  • Expectations around appropriate dress
  • Carrying guns acceptable in USA but not other countries
  • Assisted suicide legal in Switzerland but not elsewhere
• What is classified as criminal behaviour can also change over time and vary between cultures
• Historical and cultural variations in what is considered criminal

  • Alcohol production and consumption illegal in USA in 1920s
  • Interaction of women with men other than husbands illegal in public in Saudi Arabia
• Social order


  A certain amount of stability and predictability in social life that allows society to run smoothly
• Social control


  The methods used by society to enforce conformity to social norms and rules
• Sociologists study how social order is achieved and maintained, using the consensus and conflict approaches
• Social order


  The degree of predictability and stability in social life that allows society to function smoothly
• Social order and predictability are essential if society is to run smoothly
• Sociologists studying social order


  • Focus on the many aspects of social life that are stable and ordered
• Two main approaches to explaining social order


  • Consensus approach
  • Conflict approach
• Consensus approach


  Functionalism argues that modern society is based on value consensus - broad agreement among people regarding norms and values
• Conflict approach


  Marxist approach sees capitalist society as based on conflicting interests between social classes - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
• Social order is maintained over time because the bourgeoisie have the power to enforce order
• Social control


  The processes by which people's actions and behaviour are controlled or constrained by social groups and wider society
• Methods of social control

  • Sanctions that aim to limit or reduce the frequency of deviant acts
  • Positive sanctions (e.g. promotion)
  • Negative sanctions (e.g. prison sentence)
• Formal social control is based on written rules and laws, and is associated with the ways the state regulates and controls people's actions
• Agencies of formal social control

  • Legislature (Houses of Parliament)
  • Police force
  • Judiciary (judges and magistrates)
  • Prison service
  • Probation service
• Informal social control


  Based on unwritten rules and processes, enforced via social pressure from groups like families, peers, teachers, work colleagues
• Informal social control methods

  • Positive sanctions (e.g. praise, gifts)
  • Negative sanctions (e.g. ridicule, gossip, arguments)
• Road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers each have different rules to follow and these are listed in the Highway Code
• In the workplace, people are expected to follow the rules governing health and safety
• Formal, written rules


  Have official status, and official sanctions (formal punishments or penalties) are usually imposed on those caught breaking them
• Formal punishments or penalties


  • Imprisonment
  • Electronic tagging
  • Getting sacked
• Informal rules are 'taken-for-granted' or unwritten rules or guidelines on how we are expected to behave in particular social settings
• Informal rules


  Do not have official status, but friends, family members and workmates may apply negative sanctions (such as playing practical jokes on someone or ridiculing them) to those caught breaking unwritten rules
• Informal rules


  • Not getting permission before making ourselves a drink, using the toilet or taking a shower at home
  • Not wandering into the kitchen and helping ourselves to a glass of orange juice or a biscuit at the house of a distant relative
• Informal, unwritten rules can still have a powerful influence over how we behave in particular situations
• Formal rules at school are necessary to guide teacher and student behaviour
• Informal rules apply to everyone in different ways, for example children and adults may be expected to behave differently in a supermarket checkout queue, and there may be different expectations about how men and women should dress for a job interview