GCSE Sociology — Crime and Deviance

Led by Robert K. Merton Simulacrum

Crime and deviance as a socially constructed and unevenly counted phenomenon — social control and its agencies, the patterns of offending, the great theories of deviance, and the problem of how crime is measured.

1. Module 1

   The Social Construction and Control of Crime

   Led by Robert K. Merton Simulacrum

   The question

   What counts as a crime, and who decides? You will study the social construction of crime and deviance (historical and cultural variation), informal and formal social control and their agencies (family, peers, media; police, courts), and the patterns of offending by class, ethnicity, age, and gender.

   Outcome

   You can show why what counts as crime is not fixed but socially defined.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 1.1 The Social Construction of Crime and Deviance Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 1.2 Social Control and Patterns of Offending Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Begin the course → Print certificate of completion
2. Module 2

   Theories of Crime and Deviance

   Led by Albert Cohen Simulacrum

   The question

   Why does crime happen? You will study the functionalist account (Merton's anomie and strain), the subcultural account (Albert Cohen, status frustration), the Marxist account (Chambliss, differential enforcement and white-collar crime), the interactionist account (labelling and the deviant career, Becker; moral panics), and the feminist accounts (Heidensohn, Carlen, the chivalry thesis), with ethnicity and racism.

   Outcome

   You can argue the structural, subcultural, interactionist, and feminist theories of crime against one another.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 2.1 Functionalist, Subcultural, and Marxist Theories Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 2.2 Interactionist and Feminist Theories Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion
3. Module 3

   Data on Crime

   Led by Robert K. Merton Simulacrum

   The question

   How much crime is there really? You will study the sources of crime data — official statistics, victim studies, self-report studies — and the reasons they are partial: the dark figure of crime, unreported and unrecorded crime, police bias and labelling, moral panics, and invisible crime.

   Outcome

   You can judge what a given crime statistic does and does not reveal.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 3.1 Sources of Crime Data Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 3.2 The Dark Figure of Crime Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion