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Crime and Deviance
infoWhy this? Distinguishing crime from deviance helps us understand how definitions of law-breaking and departures from social norms vary across time and societies. Evaluating explanations of offending, crime data, media portrayals, and punishment enables us to assess competing claims about criminal behaviour and society’s responses to it.
scheduleWhy now? This unit brings together our earlier work on theories, socialisation, and research methods to examine offending and social control. Following research methods enables us to scrutinise how crime is measured, while analysis of class, gender, and ethnicity prepares us for social stratification.
neurologyYou need to know
- The difference between criminal and deviant behaviour
- How crime is measured
- Strengths and weaknesses of methods of measuring crime
- Sociological explanations for criminal behaviour
- Functionalist explanations of crime
- Feminist explanations of crime
- Marxist explanations of crime
- Interactionist explanations of crime
- Social factors that impact criminal behaviour (gender, ethnicity, age and social class)
- Formal and informal social control and their sanctions
- Punishments for criminal and deviance behaviour
- The media and crime
rocket_launchYou must be able to
- Identity and explain key theoretical explanations on crime and deviance
- Explain key concepts within each theory
- Explain the difference between formal and informal social control
- Evaluate each theories explanation on crime and deviance
- Consider alternative theories and why they are still relevant in society today
- Understand why social factors can influence criminal behaviour (gender, ethnicity, age and social class)
- Evaluate methods of measuring crime
- Evaluate the reliability of the media when it comes to reporting crime
- Evaluate the effective of prison sentencing when it comes to punishing crimes
Revision Quiz
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