Assessing The Difference Between Crime And Defiance Criminology Essay

Assessing The Difference Between Crime And Defiance Criminology Essay Crime and Deviance, is a major topic which affects mostly every society in today’s world. When defining crime and deviance, it will depend of the norms and values of a society. Many societies have many different values and norms. Norms of society, is where all society members are expected to conform to certain behaviours. Values of a society, is where a society values something which all society members conform to. For example, many societies value certain types of religion such as Christianity or Buddhism and many other types of religion. Crime in society, is usually very specific, that it goes against the laws of society. People who commit crimes, are breaking the law and if caught, must be punished. People can be punished for committing crimes such as burglary, damage to people’s property, murder and assault. People who are found guilty of committing crimes, must be punished by the courts of law. Crime is a relative concept. This means that how a society views crimi nal acts, can differ. Criminal acts in one society, may not be seen as a criminal act in another society. Society may also differ in how to punish people for committing specific criminal acts. (Broom and Selznick, 1963 p 540,541). When looking at crime in society, it is important to look at the physiological and psychological approaches in relation to crime. These approaches have been criticised. Looking at the physiological approach, a biological theory was carried out by Cesare Lombroso. Cesare Lombroso, tried to find out if there was a connection between crime and biological causes. In 1876, Cesare Lombroso carried out research called â€Å"L’Uomo Delinquente†. Cesare Lombroso (1835 – 1909), came up with the suggestion that criminals could be identified using certain physical characterisitics such as large jaws, low foreheads and excessive body hair. Cesare Lombroso’s work was dismissed, because the theory was only focused on the criminals, in prison. This theory failed to take into account, why some people who have similar human attributes, are found throughout the world. The theory, failed to explain how certain physical human attributes distinguish criminals from people who do not commit criminal activities. (Macionis and Plummer,1998. P207) The psychological approach suggests that criminal behaviour, could be explained due to the individual’s mental make up and processes such as personality, rather than the person’s physical characteristics. Hans Eysenck, carried out research in â€Å"Crime and personality† in 1964. Hans Eysenck, suggested that it was possible that certain personality traits that people have can make certain people â€Å"resistant to discipline than others†.(Stephenson,1992. Page 7). Hans Eysenck also suggested that people with certain personality characteristics would be more likely to commit criminal behaviours.(Stephenson,1992. Page 7). Overall, using the physiological and psych ological approach has been criticised as it does not take into account some factors such as â€Å"exploring how conceptions of right and wrong initially rise,†.(Macionis and Plummer,1998. P208). Deviance can be defined as behaviour which does not conform to certain norms of a specific society.(Haralambos & Holborn,2008). Deviance can be explained as a more broader term than crime. It is not specific and deviant behaviour may not be criminal.