SOC101Y1 Chapter : Deviance and Crime notes
Document Summary
All known human societies have norms (i. e. , generally accepted ways of doings things) about appropriate behavior. Some norms have wide scope, applying to more or less everybody in the community prescriptions against murder and armed robbery, for instance. y other norms may only apply to particular subgroups of society. Norms are enforced in many ways, both formally and informally. At the formal level, norms are enforced with laws regulated by a criminal justice system that includes police, courts, prisons, etc. At the informal level, norms may be enforced with shaming, communal pressure, etc. Hagan employs his conception of seriousness to identify four different kinds of deviance as follows: consensus crime: acts deemed very harmful and wrong, and for which the harshest criminal sanctions are reserved. examples: euthanasia, gambling, prostitution, drug use, and public drunkenness (often referred to as morality offences ) y.
