Monday, October 22, 2012

INTRODUCTION TO CRIME THEORY


Crime- A term that means someone is being deviant and breaking the law. Crime is less broad than deviance as it only applies to what laws have been broken than what is acceptable as social behaviour. A typical example of a crime in British and most societies is homicide. The study of criminology’s main focus is on illegal deviance which is crime. Other examples of crimes are:

·         Theft

·         Fraud

·         Paedophilia

·         Violence

·         Racism

·         Murder

 

Deviance- This is the act of breaking social norms. Deviancy is thus broader than crime and doesn’t always mean resorting to it but can be acts of incivilities or morally disapproved conduct. What is deviant in one culture can vary to another. A typical example of deviant behaviour in England is cutting through the cue whilst waiting for a bus. This type of behaviour is much more acceptable in other societies but the social norm seems to be stricter in Britain. However, cutting the cue is not breaking a law and won’t resort to being arrested or fined. Other examples of deviant acts for many types of people and cultures range from:

·         Incest

·         Mixed Race Relationships

·         Homosexuality

·         Sex before marriage

·         Picking your nose

Hagan- In his “common sense view”, he defines deviance as a collective set of agreed wrongs by a group or culture. Punishment or rejection from members of society reflects the seriousness of the offence and criminal deviance harms human beings and society itself. The Criminal Justice System (CJS) is there to give punishment and control the reports and procedures that take place due to crime.

   For theorists like Hagan, crime and deviance is a social construct that varies from location to location, to different people, different periods of time and in different situations. For example murder is acceptable by members of society when they are soldiers going to war.

   Hagan’s view of criminology explains that no one ever truly conforms to the laws all the time and the rationality or morality of the rules over crime and deviance varies at times and in different situations.

 

Criminal- The criminal is an individual who performs actions that violates public interests and morality by breaking the law. Crime itself is the violations of public interests, morals and breaking the law.

 

Role of the Law- The law is the legally written rules and policies that govern how we are allowed to behave in society. It is there to define people’s moral rights and wrongs. It does this by establishing a rational hierarchy of norms and offences which serves to protect the community’s interests and values.

 

Criminal Justice System- The CJS is there to give punishment and control the reports and procedures that take place from the event of a crime and its aftermath. The process of the CJS is crime, arrest, charge, court and then conviction. The main institutions in the CJS are the Police Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Courts, Prisons and Probation Service. Its main functions are:

·         Punishment

·         Incapacitation

·         Deterrence

·         Community Self Defence (Hobbes, Leviathan)

Much of the social construction of crime reflects the interests of the powerful in order to retain their control and assets. For example when people commit corporate crime they are more likely to be leniently treated by the CJS than a thief or drug addict even though they are technically costing society more money.

     When groups of members of society’s collective conscience are obtained and they understand their position of marginalisation it’s likely they may resort to means of trying to claim fairness and equality. Civil protest was much more legal 40 years prior but new state policies have been introduced in recent years to prevent it from occurring in Britain. Such policies include:

·         Trade Union Laws (1980’s-1993)

·         Public Order Act (1986)

·         Criminal Justice and Public Order (1995)

·         Terrorism Act (2000) - An action which involves serious damage to property, endangers someone’s life, effects electronic systems or is one used to affect or harm the government with some form of ideology. Examples are bombings, hostage cases, hacking into organisations and Political Crime Action.

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