Sociology - Crime and Deviance Essay - 1682 Words

Crime and Deviance Crime is a set of rules and statutes that regulates the behaviours of a society, it is a behaviour or action that will put members of the public at risk of harm in one way or another be it a robbery or a violent attack. However, deviance is not necessarily breaking the law but it is in violation of the social norms. (Cliff Notes. 2009) But what is classed as criminal or deviant is dependent on certain factors. Crime, or what is perceived as criminal changes over time; what is considered a criminal act now may not have been seen as such in previous years, for example, recreational drugs such as cocaine were not illegal in the late nineteenth century but holds a hefty punishment for possession now. What is deemed to be†¦show more content†¦Hans Brunner’s study backs up the biological theory; he conducted a case study of the male members of a family in Holland each with different violent tendencies. One of which attempted to run his boss over in his car after an argument , another raped his sister and one forced his sister to undress in front of him. They all displayed retarded motor development, difficulties in task planning and awkward sexual behaviours. With further study Brunner found that all of them had a lack of serotonin, which he linked to the violent outbursts they had displayed. (Brunner, H. 1993) The main issue with this study is the sample, not only is it a limited sample but it is culture biased and gender biased as well due to the focus of the study being three Dutch males. This means that the findings cannot be generalised as they are specific to the bias and not large enough generalise wider. The biological theory of crime and deviance is a reliable theory as it can be measured accurately as it’s interest is in the chemical imbalances in the brain rather than what we cannot see or measure like the sociological theory. Another positive point for the theory is it explains the violent outbursts and can be treated to correct the imbalance in the brain with drugs to help adjust the levels of serotonin back to a normalShow MoreRelatedThe Sociology Of Crime And Deviance2467 Words   |  10 PagesThe sociology of crime and deviance is about rules, regulations and rule breakers. There are people that break rules and interest are shown to why they do so, while there are others that are seen and labelled rule breakers. The role of the media is to emphasise this ideas in hyperboles and install reactions to society. Societies today are media saturated and they are captivated with crime and it is the fundamental point of the news production. With less association with people’s lives and valuesRead Moresociology internationalist crime deviance1200 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿1c How do interactionists explain crime? (Labelling Theory) Are offenders different? 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