CRIM1010 Study Guide - Final Guide: Berlin Wall, Victim Blaming, Manchester Metrolink City Zone
1 Jul 2018
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Week 1 - An introduction: Deconstructing crime
What is crime?
acts that are deviant or bad which inherently are reflections of everyday people
that majority of crime is mundane
it’s difficult to define crime as it is not easy to answer but it’s rather consensus or contested
crime encompasses different acts which lead to different levels of understanding
crime consists of: murder, illegal drug use, harm natural environment, Japanese whaling,
corporate activity eg James Hardy and asbestos related diseases etc
What counts as crime?
Crime and morality
Crime and gender
Crime and culture
Crime and religion
Crime and politics
What shapes your views on crime?
individual values
personal experiences as a victim, perpetrator and bystander
social context: parents, friends, school/job
information sources: mass media, niche media, reading, research, think and discuss
Process of boundary defining
Criminalisation/decriminalisation
Institutional practice through which certain acts and behaviours (people?) are labelled as
‘crimes’ and ‘outlawed’ (Sage Dictionary of Criminology) – or cease to be so labelled
True’ pictures of crime – What distorts our view of crime:
oMarginalisation
oStereotyping
oSensationalism
oMagnification
oMystification
The concept of ‘deviance’
Deviance is: “behaviour that violates the normative rules, understandings or expectations of
social systems” (Cohen 1968, p148)
Criminology vs the sociology of Deviance
The breaking of formal vs the breaking of informal norms
public order offences (one end of the spectrum; very minor crimes)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Why do we ‘need’ criminal labels
Boundary definition/ maintaining established consensus (Conservative)
Adjudicating between competing values/ achieving consensus (Liberal)
Protect unequal social order (Radical/Critical)
Four approaches to ‘what is crime’ (IMPORTANT)
Legal approach: is it against the law?
Social harm approach: does it cause significant harm?
Human rights approach: does it breach anyone’s human rights?
The social process approach: do other people think
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Week 2 – Perspectives on justice: offending & victimisation
Victims, crime and criminology
regards crime against a social order rather than an individual
victims are an essential part of academic research (in regards to criminology)
The concept of victim
Oxford dictionary of English
A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident
Legal definition
Victim Rights Act 1996 - Sec 5 Meaning of victim of crime
Who is a victim?
victims means person who individually or collectively have suffered harm e.g physical injury,
suffering economic loss
The nature of harm?
victimisation means that the autonomy a moral person has been robbed and denigrated
is part and parcel of experience of being dehumanised
Victim as identity?
a victim is one who is defined voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, abruptly or
sharply
the idea that victimisation is a label, a social process
Labelling maters? (victim —> survivor —> thriver)
Feminists push back the word victim
emphasis on passivity and powerlessness (stigmatisation)
feminists prefer the word ‘survivor’
in reality women and men process victimisation in the moment, afterwards survivor
victimisation is a dynamic process
victimisation is a process in which individuals express different feelings at different points,
make choices about what to do/what not to do as a consequence
Claiming victim status
not everyone claims a status of victimhood
“acquiring the status of victims involves being partly to a range of interactions and processes,
including identification, labelling and recognition” (Mythen 2007, p466)
Must be powerful enough to claim status
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Acts that are deviant or bad which inherently are reflections of everyday people. It"s difficult to define crime as it is not easy to answer but it"s rather consensus or contested. Crime encompasses different acts which lead to different levels of understanding. Crime consists of: murder, illegal drug use, harm natural environment, japanese whaling, corporate activity eg james hardy and asbestos related diseases etc. Personal experiences as a victim, perpetrator and bystander. Information sources: mass media, niche media, reading, research, think and discuss. Institutional practice through which certain acts and behaviours (people?) are labelled as. Crimes" and outlawed" (sage dictionary of criminology) or cease to be so labelled. True" pictures of crime what distorts our view of crime: marginalisation, stereotyping, sensationalism, magnification, mystification. Deviance is: behaviour that violates the normative rules, understandings or expectations of social systems (cohen 1968, p148) The breaking of formal vs the breaking of informal norms.
