1.1 Crime and Deviance

• What is deviance?

  - Deviance is behaviour that differs from the normal. Acts that are considered unusual, uncommon or out of the ordinary. It could be unusual in one of three ways.

  1. Behaviour that is unusual and good.

  2. Behaviour that is unusual and eccentric or bizarre.

  3. Behaviour that is unusual and bad or disapproved of.

  - The last type of deviance is most interesting to as it involves rule or norm breaking of some kind and leads to a hostile disapproving reaction from others.
• What is crime?

  - It is a form of deviant behaviour that involves serious, harmful acts that are wrong against society.

  - An act regarded as so disruptive that the state must intervene on behalf of society to forbid them and punish them by law.

  - Legal definition: In law, criminal behaviour is any action forbidden by the criminal law. For a court to consider an action a crime, the action must normally have two elements.

  • Actus reus: the act of committing a crime.

  • Mens rea: the intention or guilty mind.

  - Strict liability cases do not require mens rea e.g health and safety regulations.
• The social definition of behaviour

  - People in society have different views and perceptions about what constitutes a crime. The law considers piracy and illegal music downloading illegal however many people in society would not. This demonstrates that the social definition of criminal behaviour is not always consistent.

  - Law enforcement may also conflict in the ways they respond to criminal behaviour. Some law enforcement officers may opt to enforce the full law in al circumstances of crime, whilst some will not. For example, some will enforce the full law for the possession of soft drugs, however some will only challenge it without prosecution.

  - There are behaviours society deems criminal, despite there not being a law written or passed. For example, society deemed stalking to be criminal, however it was not introduced as a law until 2012.
• Seriousness of criminal offences

  - There is also a need to consider other factors when determining what is and isn't 'criminal'. They suggest the seriousness of the offence is a key factor in determining sanctions.

  - Summary offences: less serious offences,

  - Indictable offences: more serious offences,
• Acts that are criminal and deviant

  - Most acts that are crimes would be regarded as deviant. This is why society usually classifies them as crimes in the first place.

  - Not all acts that are classified as criminal are regarded as particularly deviant.

  - The acts that people see as deviant are not always crimes.
• Values

  - Values: are the general principles for how we should live our lives. They tell us what is good or bad and right and wrong. Some values are universal e.g respect for human life. Some are specific to different societies, e.g accumulation of wealth.
• Norms

  - Norms: are the specific rule or socially accepted standards that govern people's behaviour in particular situations. The norms in society are linked to its values.
• Moral codes

  - The means by which society tries to ensure that its members behave as others expect them to.

  - It does this through applying formal and informal and formal sanctions.
• Informal sanctions

  - Sanctions that are not enforced by authorities but in everyday interactions.

  - ignoring, laughing/shaming
• Formal sanctions

  - Penalties laid down by law that can be imposed by courts or police.

  - courts: custodial sentences, fines, community services

  - police: cautions. penalty notice
• Implications of a criminal record

  - As well as the punishment being imposed, the offender will have criminal record which have further implications.

  — exclusion from certain jobs (barring)

  — violent and sex offender register

  — travel ban