Sociology Unit 2 - Crime and Deviance Cheat Sheet

Homose­xuality is much more accept­able. Smoking is now a lot less acceptable

Rules and guidelines on how people are expected to behave.

Tradit­ional patterns of behaviour and belief.

Victim Surveys
These ask people about crimes they have been a victim of which have not been reported to the police. These show a figure of crime which is unrepr­esented in the public statis­tics.

Victim Surveys
These ask people about crimes they have been a victim of which have not been reported to the police. These show a figure of crime which is unrepr­esented in the public statis­tics.

The criminal justice system is often seen as being "­ins­tit­uti­onally racist­".
Additi­onally, members of minority groups are often victims of racial harassment and violence.
Afro-C­ari­bbean people are over-r­epr­esented in crime statistics in partic­ular.

People who are poorly socialised may have different norms and values to the rest of society, leading to deviant and criminal behaviour.

People may feel frustrated about their social status and class, causing them to act out against the rest of society.

Makes laws

Deals with law-br­eakers

A bill is brought before Parlia­ment.

It is then debated by the House of Lords

Both houses must agree to pass the bill.

A government department respon­sible for domestic British issues.
It regularly publishes statistics about the number of crimes committed.
However, they may not be accurate and may not tell us the whole story about crime.

Occupa­tional Crime
This refers to crime committed by opport­unities that are left open in the crimin­al's occupa­tion.
These can range in magnitude, from stealing small amounts of money as a cashier in a superm­arket or by stealing large amounts working at a bank.
Often, occupa­tional crimes are dealt with by the company rather than the law. This is due to the bad publicity that the company would get, so occupa­tional crime is often unrepo­rted.

Statistics show that women commit less crime than men. This may be for many reasons:
    - Social­isation - boys and girls are socialised differ­ently. Valuing compet­iti­veness over empathy in boys may result in an increased inclin­ation to commit crime.
    - Opport­unities - Women may have fewer opport­unities to commit crime, due to being less likely to work or face confro­nta­tion.

However, the chivalry factor or the idea that 'men should protect women' may affect statistics in that the police are more likely to caution than charge women, and courts are likely to impose lighter sentences.
Altern­ati­vely, women can be treated more harshly for offences such as neglect or abuse of children due to caring for children being considered a women's "­natural role".

Biological Explan­ations of Crime
    - Lower levels in serato­nin**
    - A criminal "­gen­e"
    - The existance of "­cri­minal famili­es"

Sociol­ogical Explan­ations of Crime
    - Peer groups and subcul­tures
    - Social­isa­tion, home and family
    - Lack of opport­unity
    - The nature of society

Detection
Crimes may go unnoticed, such as forgery or fraud, which means they are not recorded in official statis­tics.

Recording
The police may not record a crime if they think it is too trivial, if the compla­inant decides not to proceed or if there isn't enough evidence.

Self-r­eport studies have shown that young people commit more crime than adults, albeit minor ones.
However, teenagers are under close social control from parents and teachers, so the offences they commit are more likely to be noticeed. Additi­onally, adults are more likely to commit white-­collar crime which is known to be under-recorded.