Crime And Deviance Glossary

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Deviance

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Actions which deviate from the norms and values of society.

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Crime

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A form of deviance which breaks the law.

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Secret and Private Deviance

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Deviance conducted in private which is often concealed from wider society.

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Open and Public Deviance

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Deviance conducted in public which is not concealed from wider society.

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Individual Deviance

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The deviant behaviour of an individual.

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Collective Deviance

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The deviant behaviour of a group of people.

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Societal Deviance

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Behaviour which is seen as deviant by most members of society.

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Situational Deviance

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Behaviour which may be seen as deviant in one situation but not another.

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Social Control

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Methods of controlling people's behaviour - encouraging them to conform to society's norms and values and discouraging deviant and criminal behaviour.

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Formal Methods of Social Control

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Institutions specifically set up to enforce social control, especially those which create and enforce the law (e.g. police, army).

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Informal Methods of Social Control

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Institutions and groups which are not directly concerned with enforcing social control yet still play an important part in controlling the behaviour of others (e.g. family, peer group).

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Anomie

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A state of normlessness - where norms no longer direct behaviour.

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Collective Conscience

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A term used by Durkheim to describe the core, shared values of society.

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Status Frustration

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Dissatisfaction and frustration with the status and respect given by others.

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Subculture

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Distinctive norms and values shared by a group within society. These norms and values differ from those of mainstream culture.

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Relative Deprivation

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The way so-called deprivation is seen or perceived by those experiencing it. This is usually done by comparing their situation to others.

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Techniques of Neutralisation

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Techniques which neutralise the blame for actions which are defined as wrong or unacceptable by society's norms and values.

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Subterranean Values

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Values which are only expressed in particular situations.

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Police Recorded Crime

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Crimes recorded by the police from which official statistics on crime are drawn.

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Victim Study/Survey

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A study of the victims of crime, usually asking people to report the crimes that have been committed against them, or any other member of the household, during the previous year.

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British Crime Survey

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Annual victimisation survey carried out by the Home Office.

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Self-Report Study

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A survey in which respondents report on the offences they have committed over a period of time.

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Repeat Victimisation

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Where people are victims of the same crime more than once.

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Tipping

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The process by which an area moves from being predominantly law-abiding to predominantly accepting of antisocial behaviour.

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White-Collar Crime

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The crimes of people in white-collar occupations. It includes occupational crime and corporate crime.

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Occupational Crime

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Crimes committed by employees at the expense of the organisation.

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Corporate Crime

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Crimes committed on behalf of and for the benefit of the organisation.

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State Crime

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Crimes committed by the state or by agencies of the state on behalf of the state.

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Transnational Crime

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Criminal activity that crosses national boundaries.

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Transnational Organised Crime

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Transnational crime that involves an organised group.

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Glocal System

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Where a group operates at both local and global levels.

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Primary Deviance

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Deviant acts which have not been publicly labelled.

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Secondary Deviance

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Acts which have been publicly labelled as deviant and the deviance that is generated by this label.

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Societal Reaction

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The reaction of others to an individual. In the case of crime, the reaction of others to someone labelled as deviant.

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Master Status

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A status which overrides all other statuses, and is most important. The status in terms of which a person is seen by others (e.g. 'criminal').

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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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A prophecy which comes to pass simply because it has been made. The prophecy therefore fulfils itself.

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Delinquency

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The criminal behaviour of young people.

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Moral Panic

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Outrage stirred up by the media about a particular group or issue.

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Deviancy Amplification

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A process in which deviance is increased by societal reaction, particularly due to media response.

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Folk Devils

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Groups associated with moral panics who are seen as trouble makers by the media.

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Multi-Agency Intervention

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A number of agencies cooperating to focus on the solution to a social problem.

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Altruistic Suicide

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Suicide that occurs when individuals are so strongly integrated into society that they take their own lives out of a sense of duty.

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Fatalistic Suicide

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Suicide that occurs when individuals are so strongly regulated that they can see no way out of their situation other than suicide.

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Egoistic Suicide

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Suicide that occurs when there is little integration into society, when the ties that bind individuals into social groups are very weak.

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Anomic Suicide

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Suicide that results from a lack of regulation of peoples' desires and expectations.

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Social Cohesion

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The extent to which a society is held together by shared culture and norms.

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Hegemony

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The ideas and values of the ruling class that dominate thinking in society.

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Institutional Racism

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Racism that is built into the normal practices of an organisation.

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Macpherson Inquiry

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Sir William Macpherson led an inquiry into the events surrounding the murder of Stephen Lawrence by White racists, and the subsequent police investigation of this murder.

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Marginalised

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Those who are pushed to the edge, or margins, of society in cultural, economic or status terms.

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Non-Utilitarian Crime

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Crime which is not directed to monetary gain, e.g. vandalism.

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Illegitimate Opportunity Structure

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A structure which provides illegal opportunities for monetary gain.

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Immediate Gratification

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The immediate satisfaction of wants and desires.

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Target Hardening

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Reducing the physical opportunities for offending by 'hardening' the targets of crime, e.g. more secure buildings.

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Surveillance

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Close observation, particularly of suspected persons.

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Incapacitation

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Making someone incapable of doing something. In crime, using imprisonment to prevent offenders from committing crimes during their length of stay.

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Deterrence

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Discouraging or preventing a person from doing something for fear of the consequences, e.g. using prison as a deterrent for law breaking.

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Rehabilitation

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Restoring someone to normal life, e.g. restoring offenders to law-abiding citizens.

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Chivalry Factor/Thesis

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Term used to suggest that the criminal justice system may treat women more leniently than men.

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Green Crimes

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Illegal acts that damage the environment.

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Night-Time Economy

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A leisure industry has developed at night in certain parts of the inner cities, providing the location of many offences.

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Cyber Crime

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Illegal acts using the internet.

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Genocide

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Mass killing.

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Zone of Transition

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An area with a shifting population - people moving in and out.