SOC 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Corporate Crime, Culpable Homicide, Paul Bernardo

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1500
• Professor: Ryan Broll

Document Summary

There are two approaches to defining crime: objectivist-legalistic approach, social reaction approach. If actions cause harm or are socially deviant, but are not against the law, it is not within the realm of their study. Administrative law: form of public law, governs relationships between individuals and the state, e. g. labour laws, environmental laws, licenses (liquor, drivers, etc. ) Civil law: form of private law, governs relationships between individuals, e. g. contracts, wills, tort, usually resolved with settlements but sometimes it will come down to a judicial decision. Criminal law: form of public law (governs relationships between the individual and the state, governs threats to social order, includes: Crimes against the person (sexual assault, murder) Offences that are wrong, with no obvious victim (prostitution, drug use) The canadian criminal justice system is strongly informed by the objectivist-legalistic perspective, which makes sense considering it can only deal with actions against the law.