Crime Is Socially Constructed. What Does This Mean and How Does ‘Crime’ Differ from ‘Deviance’? Essay Example
Crime is socially constructed. What does this mean and how does ‘crime’ differ from ‘deviance’?
Nowadays hard to imagine daily life without news telling us stories about shocking tragedies happening around the world. Unfortunately almost everybody is interested in actions that can harm somebody. In media even existing a victim hierarchy (more sensational victim goes on top) of attraction interest of audience. People are ‘measure’ beings. It is in our habits to judge ourselves and people around us. Rules are governing everywhere; it sets correct and incorrect behaviour of society members.
Norm and rules should be conformed and existence of social control is aimed to ensure it. During social control process behaviour of individuals and groups is regulated by formal and informal agents. In process of socialization operates internal social control, here people adopt and learn norms from parents, peers, media, and etc. This type of control is targeted to individual’s conscience; meanwhile more concentration of sociologists gets external social control ruled by formal agents as police, courts, and etc.; and negative sanctions (punishing the various forms of deviance). (Goode, 1994)
It is very important to understand difference between deviance and crime because first leading to second. “Sociologists refer to behaviour that is regarded as wrongdoing, that generates negative reaction in individuals who witness or hear about it, deviant behaviour, both deviant behaviour and traits or conditions that generate a similar condemnatory, rejecting reaction in others are called social deviance or simply deviance”. (Goode, 1994, p.1) Crime is a form of deviant behaviour. Deviance can be stated as a violation against norms and values of a wider society. For example one person accepts as a norm to be a part of sub-culture- Goths. This individual support their ideas and traditions, but another thinks different because of his life experience or other impact factor (e.g. taste)
Nowadays hard to imagine daily life without news telling us stories about shocking tragedies happening around the world. Unfortunately almost everybody is interested in actions that can harm somebody. In media even existing a victim hierarchy (more sensational victim goes on top) of attraction interest of audience. People are ‘measure’ beings. It is in our habits to judge ourselves and people around us. Rules are governing everywhere; it sets correct and incorrect behaviour of society members.
Norm and rules should be conformed and existence of social control is aimed to ensure it. During social control process behaviour of individuals and groups is regulated by formal and informal agents. In process of socialization operates internal social control, here people adopt and learn norms from parents, peers, media, and etc. This type of control is targeted to individual’s conscience; meanwhile more concentration of sociologists gets external social control ruled by formal agents as police, courts, and etc.; and negative sanctions (punishing the various forms of deviance). (Goode, 1994)
It is very important to understand difference between deviance and crime because first leading to second. “Sociologists refer to behaviour that is regarded as wrongdoing, that generates negative reaction in individuals who witness or hear about it, deviant behaviour, both deviant behaviour and traits or conditions that generate a similar condemnatory, rejecting reaction in others are called social deviance or simply deviance”. (Goode, 1994, p.1) Crime is a form of deviant behaviour. Deviance can be stated as a violation against norms and values of a wider society. For example one person accepts as a norm to be a part of sub-culture- Goths. This individual support their ideas and traditions, but another thinks different because of his life experience or other impact factor (e.g. taste)