Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
Agencies of Social Control
The groups and organizations in society that control people's behaviour and actions.
Antisocial Behaviour
Behaviour that causes harassment, distress or alarm to other people. Often breaks the norms and values of society.
Corporate Crime
Crimes committed by employees on behalf of the company or organisation they work for. Examples include the manufacture and sale of unsafe products.
Crime
An illegal act (such as shoplifting or murder) which is punishable by law.
Deviance
Behaviour which goes against society's norms. It can be - but is not always - illegal.
Folk Devil
A group that is defined as a threat to society.
Formal Social Control
Control of people's behaviour based on written laws and rules. This type of social control is usually associated with the government. The agencies of formal social control include the police force, the courts and prisons.
Informal Social Control
Control of people's behaviour based on agencies other than the government. This can include peer groups and families.
Negative Sanctions
Punishments for those who do not conform to the group's expectations, for example by ignoring them to try to get them to change their behaviour.
Moral Panic
A media-fuelled over-reaction to social groups (such as "hoodies"). This process involves the media exaggerating the size and importance of a social problem. Linked to folk devil's.
Positive Sanctions
Sanctions that reward those who behave according to the group's expectations, for example through praise.
Self-Report Studies
a type of survey or questionnaire where respondents are asked if they have committed any crimes.
Stereotypes
Fixed, standardised and distorted views of the characteristics of particular groups. These are often based on prejudice.
Anomie
When people feel the norms no longer apply to them. This often occurs following rapid social change, for example after a hurricane.
The Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW)
A victim survey conducted annually by a team of researchers at the Home Office.
Capitalist society
An economic system where the focus is generating profit for private owners.
Chivalry thesis
The theory that women are treated more leniently than men in the Criminal Justice System.
Dark figure of crime
The amount of crime that does not appear in the statistics.
Ladette
A young woman who behaves in a traditionally masculine way such as getting drunk.
Peer group pressure
Where someone is influenced by their group of friends to behave in a certain way.
Recorded crime
Crime that is recorded by the police
Reported crime
Crime that is reported to the police.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
the tendency for people to behave as they are expected to behave once they have been labelled.
Socially constructed
Values or norms that are invented or "constructed" in society e.g. what is seen as illegal in one society may be acceptable in another.
Subculture
A group with its own set of values and ways of behaviour which are different from the majority of society.
Surveillance
Is the monitoring of the behaviour of people within society.
Validity
Data is valid if it gives a true picture of what is being studied.
White collar crime
Criminal acts committed by middle-class people in the course of their work.
Victim surveys
Surveys of the public which ask them to report any crime they have experienced and whether or not they have reported them to the police. The CSEW is an example of this.
Indictable offences
Serious crimes, where if a person is found guilty they are likely to go to prison.
Agenda setting
The process by which editors and media owners (the bourgeoisie) decide what should appear in the news. Violent crime is usually seen as high on the agenda.
Alienation
The feeling of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness. This is a Marxist idea.
Community service
A type of punishment which involves unpaid work in the community instead of being sent to prison.
Control theory
Heidensohn: The theory which explains why females commit less crime as a result of patriarchal society which places greater restrictions on what women can and cannot do.
Crime rate
The number of crimes committed per 1000 of the population
Criminal justice system
Refers to the different agencies involved in dealing with criminality (e.g. the police, courts etc.)
Criminal subculture
A social group with a different set of norms and values to wider society. In this group crime is seen as acceptable.
Delinquency
Small scale crime and deviance committed by younger people
Ethnic group
a group of people who share a common culture, language and have shared traditions.
Ethnic minority
A member of an ethnic group which is much smaller than the majority group in the population
Ethnicity
Cultural traditions, values and norms which make an individual part of a specific social group.
Identity theft
A crime that involves someone pretending to be another person in order to steal money or obtain benefits
Institutional racism
Discrimination against a particular ethnic group which happens within an institution such as the police force.
Labelling
Attaching a definition/meaning to an individual or group based on stereotypical ideas.
Master status
One status within a set that is seen as most importnat. Once this is attached to an individual all behaviour is considered using this status.
Non-indictable offence
A less serious criminal offence (E.g. going slightly over the speed limit) which is unlikely to result in a prison sentence.
Official crime statistics
Refers to crimes recorded by the police.
Social control (formal and informal)
Restrictions placed on individual's behaviour by agencies such as the police (Formal) or the family (Informal).
Status frustration
Cohen's theory that working class boys feel this because they try but failing to meet the goals of mainstream society. He believes this causes crime.
Criminogenic Capitalism
Capitalism creates crime because it creates inequality.
