Crime or Deviance Understand the difference between crime

Crime or Deviance Understand the difference between crime and deviance Understand how and why deviance changes.

What is a crime? A crime occurs when someone breaks a law. This is a legal definition. Not all crimes are deviant, though many are.

What is deviance? Deviance occurs when someone breaks a norm of society. People who break norms are usually seen as ‘mad or bad’. These people are known as deviants. Not all deviants are criminal.

Open Questions Open questions refer to questions that sociologists ask which require you to give an opinion. You will be asked if certain acts are deviant. This is an open question.

Closed Questions Closed questions refer to questions that sociologists ask which have ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. You will be asked if certain acts are criminal. This is a closed question.

Crime or Deviance: The BIG Questions Look at the following acts. n n Is each act deviant? Is each act criminal? Write down if in a table which category they would fall under

Crime Deviance

Nakedness

Speeding in a car

Dressing in unusual styles

Being fat - for a woman

Being fat - for a man

Shoplifting

Drugs

Drugs

Drinking alcohol

Homosexuality

Killing people

Wars

The Holocaust

Domestic violence and abuse

Smacking children

Key Questions n n n What makes an act deviant for one group of people but not for another? Does deviance change? - over time? - in different societies? What makes an action a crime? Who decides?

You should have learned: n n That crime and deviance are both socially created. Not all crime is deviant, not all deviance is crime. Crime depends on the government setting the rules. Deviance depends on the people setting the rules.

Deviance and Crime n n n Crime is a written code. Crime involves the law. Crime will receive a formal punishment. n n n Deviance is an unwritten code. Deviance involves norms. Deviance receives an informal punishment. Breaking any rule, written or unwritten has consequences for the individual who breaks it.

Crime and Deviance A diagram to show crime is different from deviance

Crime Parking on yellow lines Legal code broken Deviance Moral and social code broken: Smiling at strangers Murder Moral code broken