6.1: What are Crime, Deviance, and Social Control Notes:

What are Crime, Deviance, and Social Control:

What is deviance?

• Deviance: behavior that breaks social norms or expectations.

• Not always illegal.

• Deviance is broader than crime.

• Can be positively sanctioned (e.g., heroism).

• Deviance studied in sociology includes non-criminal acts like:

  • Mental illness

  • Suicide

• Sociologists often analyze how labels are applied—rather than just defining actions as wrong.

• Key Features:

  • Relative: depends on time, place, culture - smoking indoors once normal, now deviant. (dominant values set the line of what is and isn't deviant)

  • Context-dependent: Who, where, when. - killing during war vs murder.

  • Not always negative: Can lead to social change.

What is crime?

• Crime = behavior that breaks the law.

• Always punishable by formal legal sanctions.

• Examples:

  • Theft.

  • Assault.

  • Fraud.

• Overlap with Deviance:

  • Not all deviance = crime e.g. Nudity at beach (deviant but legal).

  • Not all crime = seen as deviant by everyone. e.g. Speeding.

Social Order:

• Social Order: society’s stable patterns of behavior - predictable, organized life.

• Maintained by social control.

Social Control:

• Ways society regulates behavior.

• Ensures conformity to norms/rules.

• Two Types: Formal and Informal Control

1. Formal Social Control Agencies

• Police: enforce laws, investigate crime, arrest offenders.

• Courts: prosecute and judge offenders, apply legal sanctions.

• Armed forces: maintain national security, prevent large‑scale disorder.

• Government: creates laws, policies, and regulations.

• Penal system (prisons, probation): punish and rehabilitate offenders.

How They Control Individuals

• Use laws, rules, and punishments (fines, imprisonment).

• Deter crime through fear of sanctions.

• Maintain order and protect society.

Informal Social Control Agencies

• Family: teaches norms, discipline, sanctions (approval/disapproval).

• Education: hidden curriculum (obedience, punctuality, respect).

• Workplace: rules, codes of conduct, peer pressure.

• Peer group: influence behaviour through acceptance/exclusion.

• Media (traditional & digital): shapes values, stereotypes, moral panics.

• Religion: moral codes, teachings, community expectations.

How They Control Individuals

• Use socialization, approval, shame, gossip, peer pressure.

• Encourage conformity without formal punishment.

• Reinforce cultural norms and values.

Effectiveness of Social Control

• Formal agencies: effective for serious crime, but limited by corruption, inequality, or lack of resources.

• Informal agencies: effective for everyday behavior, but weaker in diverse societies with conflicting values.

• Combination: both formal and informal control needed to maintain conformity.

Types of Crime

• Violent crime: physical harm (murder, assault).

• Property crime: theft, burglary, vandalism.

• White‑collar/corporate crime: fraud, tax evasion, insider trading.

• Expressive crime: emotional release (vandalism, assault in anger).

• Instrumental crime: calculated for gain (robbery, drug dealing).

• Gang crime: organised groups, often violent or drug‑related.

• Green crime: environmental harm (pollution, illegal logging).

• Global crime: organised crime across borders (human trafficking, drug smuggling).

• Cyber crime: hacking, identity theft, online fraud.

• Hate crime: motivated by prejudice (race, religion, sexuality).

• Domestic crime: violence or abuse within the home.

Measuring Crime

• Official statistics: collected by police/government.

• Self‑report studies: individuals admit crimes anonymously.

• Victim surveys: ask people about crimes they experienced (local/national).

Strengths & Limitations

Official statistics:

• Strength: large scale, consistent.

• Limitation: underreporting, police bias, “dark figure of crime.”

Self‑report studies:

• Strength: reveal hidden crimes.

• Limitation: honesty issues, small samples.

Victim surveys:

• Strength: show unreported crimes.

• Limitation: memory errors, limited scope.

Problem of Unreported/Unrecorded Crime

• Many crimes not reported (fear, shame, distrust of police).

• Some crimes not recorded (police discretion, lack of evidence).

• Creates “dark figure of crime” → gap between real crime and statistics.

NOTES DONE BY FARIDA SABET

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