Criminology - Unit 2: Criminological Theories with questions & answers latest 2024 update

Criminology - Unit 2: Criminological Theories with questions & answers latest 2024 update Norms - ANSWERThe normal way of behaving in society. All laws are norms (such as not killing someone) but not all norms are laws (such as coming to college with your homework). Someone who breaks a norm is considered deviant. Deviance - ANSWERDeviance is any behaviour that differs from normal. In other words, it is behaviour that is unusual, uncommon or out of the ordinary in some way. It could be unusual in one of the three different ways: - Behaviour that is unusual and good, such as heroically risking one's own life to save someone else - Behaviour that is unusual and eccentric or bizarre, such as talking to the trees in the park, or hoarding huge quantities of old newspapers - Behaviour that is unusual and bad or disapproved of, such as physically attacking someone for no reason. The final definition is the most relevant to criminologists. This type of deviance involves breaking a rule or norm of some kind. This rule-breaking leads to a critical, hostile or disapproving reaction from others. Values - ANSWERSpecific cultural goals. Norms follow these values. A norm prescribes the actual behaviour and a value justifies that behaviour. Values are the reason why some actions are approved of more than others. Norms and Values Example - ANSWERGoing to work. Value = earn money to provide for family. Norm = going to work. Criminal norm = nefarious acts such as theft or fraud. Sanctions - ANSWERPunishments against someone who breaks laws/norms and they depend on the severity of the act. Informal Sanctions - ANSWERWhen people are punished for not following social norms in an informal setting. An example is a parent grounding their child. Formal Sanctions - ANSWERWhen social norms are being enforced at a legal level (breaking the law.) An example is imprisonment after committing a crime. Examples of formal negative sanctions - ANSWER- recieveing a prison sentence - being ordered to pay a fine - community service Examples of informal negative sanctions - ANSWER- a friend telling you off for speeding - parents grounding a teenager for smoking underage Social Construction - ANSWERA view that things such as crime have no 'objective reality' and are instead constructed by society. What constitutes a crime tends to alter according to time, culture and circumstances. Norms are the products of social construction. Behaviour can vary in being normal or abnormal depending on the situation, time and place. Therefore, both crime and deviance is relative. How laws change from culture to culture - ANSWERDifferent cultures have different expectations of appropriate behaviour. What is a crime in one culture is not in another. Particular difficulties can arise when a person who has their origins in cultural background live in a different culture, but prefer to retain their own cultural ideas of what is right or wrong Examples of different laws between cultures - ANSWER- Female Genital Mutilation - Bigamy - Euthanasia - Smacking children - Drugs such as alcohol or cannabis - Homosexuality - Same-sex marriage - Abortion Culturally different laws which are legal in the UK - ANSWER- Smacking children - Homosexuality - Same-sex marriage - Abortion Culturally different laws which are illegal in the UK - ANSWER- Female Genital Mutilation - Bigamy - Euthanasia - Drugs such as cannabis