Students will study sociological explanations of crime and deviance, focusing on patterns, trends, and the social distribution of crime. Key areas include the role of media, the criminal justice system, global crime, and state crimes. Theories and methods specific to this field are also explored.
Students will be informally assessed throughout the topic, and formally within the mock exams and end of topic assessments. Assessments will comprise of exam style questions and essays. The essays will be written under timed conditions. As the unit progresses students will advance from writing essays with the support of plans to completing unseen questions.
Term
Definition
Crime
Behaviour that breaks formal laws and is punished by the state.
Deviance
Behaviour that violates social norms and values; not always illegal.
Anomie (Durkheim)
A state of normlessness caused by rapid social change or weak social regulation, leading to deviance.
Strain Theory (Merton)
Crime results from a gap between culturally approved goals and legitimate means of achieving them.
Status Frustration (Cohen)
Working-class boys form delinquent subcultures due to failure in achieving status legitimately.
Subcultures (Cloward & Ohlin)
Responses to strain depend on access to illegitimate opportunities: criminal, conflict, and retreatist.
Labelling Theory (Becker)
Crime is socially constructed; behaviour becomes deviant when labelled as such by those in power.
Master Status
A dominant label that shapes a person's identity and how others perceive them.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
When a label leads an individual to act in ways that confirm the label.
Moral Panics (Cohen)
Media exaggeration of deviance creates public fear and demands for social control.
Folk Devils
Individuals or groups portrayed as threats to social order during a moral panic.
Right Realism
Focuses on crime control, punishment, and rational choice by offenders.
Left Realism
Crime is caused by marginalisation, relative deprivation, and subcultures; focuses on victims.
Situational Crime Prevention
Reduces crime by making it harder or riskier through measures like CCTV and target hardening.
Environmental Crime Prevention
Prevents crime by improving environments, e.g. broken windows and zero-tolerance policing.
Gender and Crime
Examines patterns and explanations of male and female offending.
Ethnicity and Crime
Examines ethnic disproportionality in policing, arrests, and imprisonment.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
This section examines the role of beliefs, ideologies, and religion in society. Topics include the relationship between religious beliefs and social change, secularisation, religious organisations, and the significance of religion in contemporary society.
Students will be informally assessed throughout the topic, and formally within the mock exams and end of topic assessments. Assessments will comprise of exam style questions and essays. The essays will be written under timed conditions. As the unit progresses students will advance from writing essays with the support of plans to completing unseen questions.
Ideology
A set of beliefs and values that reflect a particular worldview.
Secularisation
The decline in religious belief, practice, and influence in society.
Disenchantment (Weber)
The process by which science and rationality replace religious explanations.
Civil Religion (Bellah)
Shared national values and rituals that create social cohesion.
Functionalism (Religion)
Religion maintains social solidarity and value consensus.
Marxism (Religion)
Religion legitimates and maintains class inequality.
Feminism (Religion)
Religion reinforces patriarchy and female subordination.
Religious Pluralism
The coexistence of different religions and belief systems.
Fundamentalism
A literal interpretation of sacred texts.
Globalisation and Religion
The spread and transformation of religious beliefs worldwide.
NRMs (New Religious Movements)
New religious groups offering alternative beliefs and practices.
NAMs (New Age Movements)
Individualised and spiritual belief systems focused on self-development.
Social Change (Religion)
Religion acting as a force for social change or social conservatism.
Religious Market Theory
The idea that competition between religions increases participation.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
Revision and formal A level examinations – 3x 2-hour exams.
Formal A level examinations - 3x 2-hour exams.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community: