Contemporary Social Structures

Contemporary Social Structures

What do you understand by 'Crime and Deviance'? in what ways can both be understood to be part of the social structure of contemporary societies?

Crime and deviance will always be present in our society. Crime is the form of deviance that involves an infraction of the criminal law. Criminal law comprises legal norms that police, courts are designed to enforceThe criminal law of society can cover a wide range of actions such as driving above the legal speed limit, burglary, fraud and drug possession. The crime that are seen as the most serious or, most threatening are not necessarily the crimes that will have the most impact in real terms. ( Fulcher & Scott, 2009. Pg242)

Deviance is going against the norm what may be considered normal in one perspective may be not be normal in the other. Thoughts or action of an individual is not naturally deviant, but will only be seen as deviant in relation to society's practical norms. For example, a street fight may be seen as dangerous act, whereas a boxing match is a more accepted form of violence where rules are present to control the people's behaviour. Deviance varies according to cultural norms, what is considered deviant in one society may be socially acceptable in another. For example consuming alcohol whilst driving in the U.K is illegal whereas in some countries consuming alcohol in the car is legal. This shows that any act can be considered deviance depending on the society's norms. Labeling theory plays a big role in deviance, Fulcher & Scott states that labeling theory of deviance is closely linked to symbolic interactionism, meaning that the fact of being labeled as deviant by members of a powerful or dominant social group makes an action deviant. (pg 237, 2007)

I believe that acts of deviance can change society and encourage social change. Drug dealers in society are seen as a big problem, demeaning the lives of individuals by either encouraging or bullying them to be involved in illegal activities especially in estates, where there is a higher population of youths, also they create drug users which are considered to be dangerous individuals once they are under the influence. To encourage social change many societies have set up various programs as alternatives to recreational drug use. After school programs, mentor groups and commercial these programs will help keep youths occupied and will encourage them to achieve better things in life also these programs with the help of the police and communities will deter society from turning to drug dealing & drug use.

Both biological and psychological theories of criminality suggest that deviance is not a sign of something being wrong with society but instead something wrong with the individual. The biological theories focuses on the fact that if a person is a criminal then they were born as a criminal and any actions that the law use to try and change this person for example counseling, are useless. The well known example of biological determinism is the theory of Cesare Lombroso who based his theory on the assumption that criminals have a certain featured called 'atavistic' known as biological failings which prevented them from developing to a fully human level. Lombroso implied that criminals had common facial characteristics. criminals in Lombroso's theory where identified through the shape of their skulls, face and head, large cheekbones, ears and lips, they were also believed to have crooked nose and long arms. Psychological theories in criminality research explanations within the individual and not the society whereas biological theories focus on the physical features that lead individuals to criminal activities. The psychological theory focuses on personality types, but can only explain some aspects of crime for example some criminals may have personality characteristic that are completely different from others in society, and also there are many different types of crimes such as, well planned fraud & murder so it is impossible to suggest that individuals who commit crime share the same psychological characteristics. The psychological theory claims that crime is caused by factors that are embedded in the individuals mind, and they are unable to control these factors.

The two main perspectives that explain crime are Marxism and functionalism, each perspectives covers a range of theories.The functionalist theory sees crime and deviance resulting from structural