Crime and deviance
- Crime is behaviour that breaks the law. Deviance is behaviour that breaks social norms.
- Not all deviance is criminal (such as being rude), and not all crime is seen as deviant (such as speeding slightly).
Social construction
- Crime and deviance are socially constructed: what counts as crime or deviance depends on time, place and who decides.
- Over time: homosexuality was illegal in England and Wales until 1967; smoking in pubs was normal but was banned in 2007.
- By place: laws and norms differ between cultures and countries.
- By situation: killing is a crime, but can be seen differently in war.
Social control
- Formal social control: official agencies such as the police, courts and prisons, using written laws and formal sanctions.
- Informal social control: family, friends, peers and neighbours, using approval, disapproval, gossip and exclusion.
- Sanctions can be positive (rewards) or negative (punishments).
Key terms
- Crime
- Behaviour that breaks the law.
- Deviance
- Behaviour that breaks social norms.
- Social construction
- The idea that meanings are created by society and change over time and place.
- Formal social control
- Control by official agencies using written rules.
- Informal social control
- Control by family, friends and peers.
- Negative sanction
- A punishment for breaking norms or laws.