Crim unit 2

• Deviance


  Behaviour that differs from society's norms
• Norms


  Rules of expectations of what is right and wrong
• Moral codes


  Set of ethics that you are expected to follow
• Values


  General set of principles about acceptable or unacceptable behaviour
• There is a difference between crime and deviance like how behaviours can be deviant but not criminal and vice versa as well as both
• Types of deviant behaviour

  • Good but unusual behaviour (e.g. running into a burning building)
  • Unusual behaviour (e.g. shopping in your dressing gown and slippers)
  • Disapproving behaviour (e.g. intentionally causing harm to others)
• Sanctions


  The ways that behaviours are rewarded or punished
• Types of sanctions


  • Positive sanctions (e.g. being praised by a teacher)
  • Informal sanctions (e.g. being challenged for talking in a library)
  • Formal sanctions (e.g. being charged by the police for breaking the law)
• There is an ideology created by criminologists that sanctions=social control, meaning the use of sanctions by society and police are used to control us to make us behave and follow the unwritten and written rules of society
• Social definition of criminal behaviour

  Ways in which people in society determine what behaviour is acceptable
• Legal definition of criminal behaviour

  Any action that is forbidden by law
• Factors that affect people's views on criminal behaviour

  • People in society have different views about what constitutes a crime (e.g. illegal downloading)
  • Law enforcement may conflict in ways they respond to the criminal behaviour (e.g. shoplifting)
  • Behaviours that society sees as criminal but not (e.g. stalking in 2012)
• Actus reus


  Illegal behaviour
• Mens rea

  Criminal intention
• Criminal and deviant acts

  • Burglary
  • Murder
  • Illegal downloads
• Deviant acts


  • Swearing
  • Shouting in library
  • Spitting on floor
• Court sanctions


  • Custodial sentences
  • Community sentences
  • Fines
  • Discharge
• Police sanctions


  • Cautions
  • Conditional cautions
  • Penalty notices
• How laws change from culture to culture and why
• Polygamy


  • Where legal: Africa and Asian countries
  • Where illegal: Australia, America and the UK where you can get a custodial sentence of 7 years
  • Why: this law varies because of religion and traditions, Muslim men can have 4 wives and the Mormon practiced polygamy until 1890
• Adultery


  • Where legal: adultery is legal in most countries like the UK
  • Where illegal: it's a crime in Africa, Philippines and 21 American states
  • Why: this law varies because those that have criminalised it are those with religious beliefs like Christianity or Islam that influence law making with few women's rights
• Homosexuality


  • Where legal: homosexuality is legal in the UK, America and most western countries
  • Where illegal: it's is illegal in 72 countries for men and 45 for women
  • Why: the law varies because of religion like Christianity or Judaism that are traditionally against it, it's also to do with public opinion but is usually influenced by religion
• Cannabis


  • Where legal: Canada, Uruguay and some US states
  • Where illegal: UK, most of Europe and some US states
  • Why: some see it as morally wrong whilst others see it as a victimless issue and banning it will only increase the use of cannabis instead of controlling the usage
• How laws change over time and why
• How laws are applied according to circumstances

  • Moral panic (e.g. fear of knife crime=harsher punishment)
  • Age of criminality (e.g. not criminally responsible UK=10 or lesser sentence depending on age, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables killed James Bulger at the age of 10 and got released at the age of 18)
• Reasons for law changes and differences

  • Changes to government
  • Societies perception/attitudes
  • New research and knowledge
  • Fear
  • Religion/tradition
  • Miscarriage of justice
• Lombroso's theory


  Criminals are individuals who failed to evolve at the same pace as the remainder of the human race, and could be identified by their physical characteristics which indicates their biological inferiority. People are born criminals.
• Lombroso's theory


  • First person to give criminology a scientific credibility
  • Challenged the idea that criminals are evil or choose to be criminals
  • Heralded the beginnings of offender profiling
• Weaknesses of Lombroso's theory

  • Lack of control group so no comparison to be made
  • Lack of accuracy due to possible disfiguration
  • Not everyone with atavistic features is a criminal and not all criminals have them
  • Scientific racism - many of the atavistic features defined are specific to people of African descent
  • Extremely deterministic and assumes that we cannot escape destiny
• Sheldon's theory


  Different features of personality are linked to body type, with mesomorphs being most likely to commit crimes and ectomorphs the least likely.
• Somatotypes


  • Ectomorph (thin, lean, low muscle and low body fat, self-conscious, fragile, emotionally restraint)
  • Mesomorph (muscular, strong limbs, broad shoulders, tend to be aggressive and adventurous and seek physical activity and are callous and ruthless in relationships)
  • Endomorph (round, lack of muscle and wide hips, sociable, relaxed and outgoing)
• Strengths of Sheldon's theory

  • A number of studies have confirmed that there is a small association between bodily build and criminality
  • Gluek and Gluek found that 60% of delinquent population to be mesomorphs compared to 13% in a control group
  • A sample of 200 which was compared to non-offender students who were studied under controlled condition
• Weaknesses of Sheldon's theory


  • Labelling may play a part – mesomorphs may be labelled as 'troublemakers' because they fit the tough guy stereotypes
  • Somatotypes are not fixed and can change overtime
  • Does not explain who ectomorphs and endomorphs can also be viewed as criminals
• Brain abnormalities as a cause of criminality

  Those that commit crime have different brains than those who are law-abiding, with less activity in the prefrontal cortex, parietal areas, imbalance of activity between the 2 hemispheres in the amygdala, hippocampus and thalamus, and less activity in the corpus callosum.
• Less activity in the prefrontal cortex can increase risk taking, emotional and aggression outbursts, argumentative behaviour, loss of control, and an inability to modify behaviour, which could all ultimately lead to violent criminal acts.
• Less activity in the parietal areas can reduce verbal ability and problems processing social and cognition information, which could predispose an individual to crime and violence.
• Imbalance between the 2 hemispheres in the amygdala, hippocampus and thalamus can cause a lack of inhibition for violent behaviour, fearlessness and a failure to learn the negative effects of violence.
• Less activity in the corpus callosum may stop the left brain inhibiting/regulating the right brain's generation of negative emotions, which may contribute to violence and criminal behaviour.
• Chromosomal abnormalities (XYY)


  An extra Y chromosome in males that is linked to temperament, with XYY men being overrepresented in the prison population compared to the general population.
• Strengths of chromosomal abnormalities theory

  • One study found that a significant number of offenders in prison had the XYY sex chromosome
  • Possible that aggressive and violent behaviour is partly determined by genetic features