Lecture 1: Defining Crime
Defining crime- who decides?
Media
Government- creating laws
Police
Public- campaign groups
Defining crime- what are the challenges?
Difficult to decide on punishment
The context and environment are major factors which are not always taken into
consideration. (E.G. self-defence and murder) For example when using the legal
definition of crime
Cultural boundaries
Temporal boundaries
People have differing options on what constitutes as a crime, what one person may
believe to be completely normal, others may class as deviant
Definition of Crime: Crime is a behaviour or act which can be carried out by an individual,
group or corporation which is labelled as punishable in the eyes of their law. The behaviour
often causes harm or offence to others and would be classed as deviant by their society. The
definition can change massively however due to factors such as culture, how severe the
crime is perceived and context.
Crime as a legal concept
“An act or omission capable of being followed by prosecution and punishment according to
the valid law of a legitimate legal authority”
Historical and cultural variations
Fails to capture broader social context (E.G. poverty)
We need to ask how society defines ‘deviance’ and how certain types of ‘deviance’
are defined as ‘crime’
Restrictive and narrow
Only person liable to prosecution held responsible rather than the boarder social
aspects
E.G. Bangkok toy factory fire 1993 – 188 people died and over 500 seriously injured in the
fire following the managers in the factory locking all doors with the workers inside. The
managers of the factory were prosecuted for violating health and safety laws.
Why did the workers need to Capitalism
steal the toys?
Market driven Demands for cheap
consumption products and labour
Poverty in the country
Can lead to avoidance of
health and safety
regulations
Defining crime- who decides?
Media
Government- creating laws
Police
Public- campaign groups
Defining crime- what are the challenges?
Difficult to decide on punishment
The context and environment are major factors which are not always taken into
consideration. (E.G. self-defence and murder) For example when using the legal
definition of crime
Cultural boundaries
Temporal boundaries
People have differing options on what constitutes as a crime, what one person may
believe to be completely normal, others may class as deviant
Definition of Crime: Crime is a behaviour or act which can be carried out by an individual,
group or corporation which is labelled as punishable in the eyes of their law. The behaviour
often causes harm or offence to others and would be classed as deviant by their society. The
definition can change massively however due to factors such as culture, how severe the
crime is perceived and context.
Crime as a legal concept
“An act or omission capable of being followed by prosecution and punishment according to
the valid law of a legitimate legal authority”
Historical and cultural variations
Fails to capture broader social context (E.G. poverty)
We need to ask how society defines ‘deviance’ and how certain types of ‘deviance’
are defined as ‘crime’
Restrictive and narrow
Only person liable to prosecution held responsible rather than the boarder social
aspects
E.G. Bangkok toy factory fire 1993 – 188 people died and over 500 seriously injured in the
fire following the managers in the factory locking all doors with the workers inside. The
managers of the factory were prosecuted for violating health and safety laws.
Why did the workers need to Capitalism
steal the toys?
Market driven Demands for cheap
consumption products and labour
Poverty in the country
Can lead to avoidance of
health and safety
regulations
