AC 1.2 Explain The Social Construction of Criminality

• Social construction


  Something that has been made or defined by society, rather than simply occurring naturally
• Criminality


  Whichever acts a society defines as criminal
• One society or culture can define a particular act as criminal and pass a law against it while another culture sees nothing wrong in it
• As society changes over time, its ideas about what is a crime can also change
• Discussing criminal acts


  1. Define the act

  2. Discuss legality in the UK

  3. Discuss cultures where it is legal

  4. Discuss cultures where it is illegal

  5. Explain why the law varies in different cultures
• Adultery


  • Illegal in the US Bible Belt
  • Legal elsewhere
• Abortion


  • Laws vary across cultures
• Polygamy


  • Legal in Brazil, most of Africa, Russia, and a lot of Asia
  • Some cultures believe individuals should be left to decide what is in their best interests
• Explaining how laws change over time

  1. Moral panics leading to law changes

  2. Homosexuality laws changing in the UK

  3. Capital punishment laws changing in the UK

  4. Double jeopardy laws changing

  5. Prostitution laws changing

  6. Vagrancy laws changing

  7. Gun control laws changing
• Homosexuality laws in the UK

  All homosexual acts between men made a crime in 1885, legalised in 1967, age of consent reduced to 18 in 1994, equalised with heterosexuals at 16 in 2000
• Reasons for change in homosexuality laws

  • Wolfenden Report
  • Campaigns by groups like Homosexual Law Reform Society and Stonewall
  • Support from politicians like Roy Jenkins
  • Concern for human rights and individual privacy
• Capital punishment


  Executing someone as punishment for a specific crime after due process
• In the 18th century there were over 200 offences for which the death penalty could be given
• Laws were made by the rich to protect themselves and their property, often focused on the poor
• Death penalty for murder in Britain suspended in 1965, made permanent in 1969, abolished for all crimes in 1998
• Last executions in the UK were in 1964
• Miscarriages of justice led to repeal of capital punishment as they could not be put right if the person was deceased
• Reasons for change in capital punishment laws

  Breach of the right to life, no deterrent effect, long-term decline in violence
• Double jeopardy law


  Law preventing a person being tried again for the same offence, changed to allow retrial with new and compelling evidence
• Change in double jeopardy law allowed successful prosecution of Gary Dobson and David Norris for the murder of Stephen Lawrence
• Prostitution laws in the UK


  Prostitution itself is legal but many connected activities are illegal, such as soliciting, kerb crawling, owning a brothel
• Prostitution used to have a stigma attached, but society's views have slowly changed
• There is an issue with sex slavery in the UK
• Vagrancy


  Having no visible means of support and travelling from place to place in search of food and shelter, illegal under the Vagrancy Act 1842
• Originally the vagrancy law was to clear the streets of beggars, but society has become more sympathetic to the homeless
• There is momentum for the vagrancy act to be scrapped, with homelessness to be decriminalised
• Changes to UK gun control laws

  1. 1987 Hungerford shooting led to ban on most handguns

  2. 1996 Dunblane shooting led to further restrictions

  3. Campaigns by groups like the Gun Control Network helped drive the changes
• In 1996, 16 children and one teacher were shot dead at Dunblane Primary school near Stirling in Scotland by Thomas Hamilton, an unemployed former scout leader
• Most of the weapons used, including semi automatics which are capable of rapidly firing multiple rounds were legally held
• Law was tightened in 1987 following a government enquiry led by a senior former judge, Lord Cullen


  1. John Major's conservative government of the time introduced a law banning all handguns except .22 calibre single shot weapons

  2. Following Labour's win in the election later that year they introduced a second Firearms (Amendment) Act banning the remaining handguns as well
• Apart from some historic and sporting weapons it is not illegal to own a handgun in Great Britain
• Reasons Why The Law Changed

  • The main reason for the change in the law was the public outcry following Hungerford and Dunblane
  • The Gun Control Network - set up by lawyers, academics and parents of victims to campaign for tighter gun control
  • The Snowdrop Campaign - started by bereaved Dunblane parents and their friends organised a petition and collected 750,000 signatures calling for a change in the law
• Childhood


  A very good example of social construction. Although everyone goes through a biological stage of physical immaturity in the first few years of life, how society has defined this phase has varied greatly over time
• Dominant idea of childhood in British society today

  • A special time of happiness. We see children as fundamentally different from adults: vulnerable, innocent and in need of protection and nurturing. As a result in many ways children are kept separate from the adult world and its dangers. Children need time to develop both physically and mentally
• Until the 13th century the idea of childhood did not exist. Children were put out to work from an early age and were in fact mini adults with the same rights and duties as everyone else
• The law often made no distinction between adults and children and they could face the same severe punishment as those handed out to adults. This can be seen in the case of John Dean who in 1969 at the age of 8 was hanged for an alleged arson
• Over time the idea of childhood as a separate stage of life gradually developed and society became more child centred. Parents invest a great deal in their children both emotionally and financially and the state takes a greater interest in their well being
• Changes In The Law

  1. Laws excluding children from paid work - In the 19th century children as young as six were widely used in cotton mills, coal mines and other industries. A series of Factories Acts gradually excluded children from the workplace

  2. Compulsory schooling - introduced in 1880 ensured a basic education for all and also had the effect of keeping children from the workplace

  3. Child protection and welfare legislation - such as the 2004 Children act made the child's welfare the fundamental principle underpinning the work of agencies such as children services

  4. Children's rights - The Childrens Act defines parents as having responsibilities rather than rights relating to their children, while UN Convention on the Rights of the Child lays down basic rights such as entitlement to health care, education, protection from abuse and the right to participate in decisions that affect them i.e. custody cases
• We are now at the point where children are offered or have more rights than at any time in the history of modern society. Saying that, not all countries in the world are as advanced as western society. In third world countries for example children have nowhere near the same amount of rights as those living in first world countries. Children as young as 6 or 7 are required to go out and work to help support their families
• Possession of Cannabis


  Possession of cannabis is an offence and is illegal in England and Wales, but there have been calls to decriminalise it and allow its use, particularly for medicinal reasons. In Jersey for example it is legal to use cannabis for medicinal purposes. However in some countries such as Colombia and Uruguay it is legal. Within England and Wales the law is enforced differently according to the regional police priorities and resources