Crime and Deviance IGCSE Sociology

Deviance

behaviour that goes against the norms and values of a group.

Crime

actions that break formal written laws.

Formal social control

social control imposed by people or organisations that have the authority to implement rules or laws.

Agencies of social control

people or organisations who carry out social control.

Sub-culture

a group of people within a larger culture that has its own distinctive norms and values.

Policing

the ways in which the police carry out their work, such as investigating crimes and arresting offenders.

Penal system

the formal system responsible for enforcing punishment for crimes.

Prison

a building where criminals are forced to live as a punishment.

Socialisation

the process of learning the norms and values of a culture.

Ostracism

the exclusion of someone from a community or group.

Conformity

behaviour that follows the usual standards expected by a group or society.

Surveillance

observing and monitoring people’s behaviour as a form of social control.

Property crime

theft or intentional damage to things owned by an individual, group, or organisation.

White-collar crime

non-violent crime committed by middle-class people for financial gain; for example, fraud, embezzlement, bribery, and identity theft.

Corporate crime

offences committed by corporations or organisations, usually in pursuit of profit for the corporation, rather than the benefit of individuals.

Expressive crime

offences involving emotions, such as strong anger or frustration, which are usually unplanned.

Instrumental crime

offences which have a clear goal from the point of view of the criminal.

Gang crime

criminal activities carried out by a group of people who have a territory and a defined leadership and internal organisation.

Organised crime

criminal activities which are planned and carried out by powerful groups.

Green crime

offences which damage the natural world, with resulting harm to humans, other living things and the environment.

Global crime

offences which are worldwide, for example, involving international networks.

Cybercrime

crime involving the use of new technologies, such as computers.

Internet crime

any crime or illegal activity committed on, through or using the internet.

Vigilante groups

self-appointed people with no legal authority who punish people they believe are offenders.

Hate crime

offences in which the victim is targeted because of certain characteristics related to, for example, age, faith, sexuality, or race.

Domestic crime

offences in which the offender and the victim live in the same family home or are in a relationship.

Official crime statistics

official figures showing the number of crimes and offenders recorded in a country during a specific time period.

Moral panic

exaggerated social reaction to deviance, usually fueled by the media, that creates a demand for action.

Self-report studies

research that asks people what crimes or deviant acts they have committed.

Victim surveys

research that asks people what crimes they have been victims of.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

when people are aware of certain expectations, they act in ways that make those expectations come true.

Stop and search

when police stop and search a person they identify as suspicious, to look for evidence of wrongdoing.

Targeting

when the police focus on a particular group of people, because they believe they are more likely to be involved in criminal behaviour than others.

Deviancy amplification

when the response to norm-breaking behaviour leads to more of that behaviour.

Stereotyping

applying and acting upon an oversimplified set of ideas about a particular type of person or social group.

Gang culture

the norms and values of a group of young people who reject authority and are associated with deviance and crime.

Status frustration

when people feel frustrated because they are unable to achieve respect from their peers due to their position in society.

Institutional racism

when the functioning of an institution or organisation involves systems and expectations that lead to discrimination against an ethnic group.

Prejudice

unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially about a particular group of people, that is formed without knowledge and often based on stereotypes.

Discrimination

treating a person or group differently, based on prejudice.

Material deprivation

being unable to afford material goods which most people in a society would see as necessities.

Relative deprivation

feeling disadvantaged in comparison to others in your society.

Chivalry thesis

the theory that women are treated more leniently than men within the criminal justice system.

Masculinity

the attitudes and behaviour associated with being a man in a particular culture.

Misogyny

hatred of women, particularly by men.

Social exclusion

when society does not provide the same benefits and rights to a group which are available to everyone else within the same society.

Inadequate socialisation

socialisation that does not fully instil the shared norms and values of a society. (more likely to lead to crime).

Labelling

defining a group or a person in a particular way.

Strain theory

Merton’s explanation of crime as resulting from a mismatch between society’s goals and socially approved means of achieving them.

Deterrent

a punishment intended to discourage offenders or others from committing an offence.

Retribution

punishments intended as a means of revenge for wrongdoing

Incapacitation

punishments intended to physically prevent the offender from committing wrongdoing.

Rehabilitation

re-educating or retraining offenders to try to prevent further offending.

Community sentencing

when the offender has to do compulsory unpaid work for the community instead of a non-custodial sentence (where the offender is sent to prison).

Financial penalties

punishments that involve paying a sum of money.

Capital punishment

the legally authorised killing of someone as a punishment for a crime.

Corporal punishment

physical harm inflicted on the offender as punishment.

Exile

punishment in which the offender has to leave their home and community.

Probation

serving a sentence, or part of it, in the community under supervision.

Police caution

a warning given to an offender who admits their guilt, with no further action.

Law enforcement agencies

the police and other organisations with legal powers to tackle crime.

Crime prevention

techniques used by governments and individuals to reduce the amount of crime which takes place.

Community policing

a policing strategy that involves the police working with the local community and building positive relationships.

Military-style policing

a policing strategy that involves the use of military-style tactics by the police to crack down on behaviour that is seen as a threat to social order.